Jawbreaker

1999 Comedy

At Ronald Reagan High School, the power elite clique consists of Courtney Shane (Rose McGowan), Julie Freeman (Rebecca Gayheart), Marcie Fox (Julie Benz), and Liz Purr (Charlotte Roldan). The four girls control the school through a combination of beauty, sex, and intimidation. Of the four, only Liz is actually liked by the less fortunate members of the student body, and Liz is also the only one who can keep Courtney, the vicious group leader, in check. Unfortunately for Liz, she's also the only thing keeping Courtney from becoming prom queen. To achieve her goal, Courtney convinces Marcie and Julie to kidnap Liz on her 17th birthday and force her to eat until she's too fat to win. The three sneak into Liz's house, tie her up, stick a jawbreaker in her mouth, and gag her to keep her quiet before they throw her into the trunk of a car. Once they decide to free her, though, they find Liz has choked to death. Courtney decides not to go to the police; her brilliant idea is to take the body back home and create a death scene where Liz is strangled during kinky sex. Predictably, the girls screw it up, and they end up with a witness, social outcast Fern Mayo (Judy Greer). To buy her silence, Courtney draws her into the clique, transforming much more than just her outward appearance. The identity of Fern disappears, to be replaced by the very popular Vylette. In parallel to the rise of Vylette, we witness Julie's descent. Overcome with guilt over Liz's death, Julie drops out of the clique, and without the veil of protection from the others, she is now a target of abuse throughout the school. Courtney's ordeal has just begun as Vylette now challenges her for prom queen and Julie, with the help of another outcast, Zach (Chad Christ), now wants to reveal the truth behind Liz's death. more..

Director: Darren Stein

Starring: Rose McGowan, Rebecca Gayheart, Julie Benz, Judy Greer, Chad Christ

Reviews

  • A synthetic yet shrill sadomasochistic cartoon.

    Owen Gleiberman - Entertainment Weekly

    26 April 2013

  • The movie's gossamer-thin plot, padded with dream sequences and flashbacks to scenes you saw less than an hour earlier, exists only as an excuse for obvious homages to better films, stunt casting...and what pass for clever remarks in circles unfamiliar with real wit.

    Maitland McDonagh - TV Guide

    26 April 2013

  • A slick production of a lame script, which kills time for most of its middle half-hour. If anyone in the plot had the slightest intelligence, the story would implode.

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    26 April 2013

  • It's not particularly funny or trenchant, and its portrayal of noxious high school cliques never amounts to more than was shown in "Heathers."

    Mark Caro - The Chicago Tribune

    26 April 2013

  • Unoriginal.

    David Sterritt - Christian Science Monitor

    26 April 2013

Awards

  • Best Villain

    MTV Movie Awards (1999)