Jawbreaker (film)
Encyclopedia
Jawbreaker is an American black comedy
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...

 satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...

 film, directed by Darren Stein
Darren Stein
Darren Stein is an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer who grew up in the San Fernando Valley. Among his works include the documentary Put the Camera on Me, the upcoming summer 2010 horror comedy All About Evil, and the satirical major motion picture Jawbreaker - which has been...

. It was released February 19, 1999. The film stars Rose McGowan
Rose McGowan
Rose Arianna McGowan is an actress and singer. She is known for her role as Paige Matthews in The WB Television Network supernatural drama series Charmed. She played Ann-Margret alongside Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Elvis Presley in the CBS mini-series Elvis...

, Rebecca Gayheart
Rebecca Gayheart
-Early life:Gayheart was born in Hazard, Kentucky and raised in Pine Top, Kentucky, the daughter of Floneva , who worked as a Mary Kay independent beauty consultant, and Curtis Gayheart, a miner and coal truck driver. She is of Irish, Italian, and German descent...

, Julie Benz
Julie Benz
Julie M. Benz is an American actress, best known for her roles as Darla on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel and as Rita Bennett on Dexter, for which she won the 2006 Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television...

, and Judy Greer
Judy Greer
Judy Greer is an American actress, known for portraying a string of supporting female characters, including Kitty Sanchez on the Fox series Arrested Development and Cheryl on the animated comedy series Archer...

 as girls in an exclusive clique
Clique
A clique is an exclusive group of people who share common interests, views, purposes, patterns of behavior, or ethnicity. A clique as a reference group can be either normative or comparative. Membership in a clique is typically exclusive, and qualifications for membership may be social or...

 in their high school. Charlotte Ayanna
Charlotte Ayanna
Charlotte Ayanna is an American actress and former Miss Teen USA.-Early life:Ayanna was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but moved to Vermont at an early age. She had a troubled childhood, spending thirteen years in foster homes after her mother, Emma, was judged to be mentally unfit to look after...

 has a non-speaking cameo role as a murdered prom queen. The film was inspired by the infamous movie Heathers
Heathers
Heathers is a 1989 black comedy film starring Winona Ryder, Christian Slater and Shannen Doherty. The film portrays four girls in a trend-setting clique at a fictional Ohio high school...

, and is often compared to it, particularly the plot involving a popular female clique, and the accidental murder of one of its members. It also holds similarities to Carrie, with its ugly duckling plot and horrific prom showdown.

Of his concept for the film, Stein has stated The jawbreaker just came to represent the duality of the poppy sweetness of the girls, of high school and of youth, versus the whole idea that this thing could break your jaw.

A musical adaptation of the film, which Stein also wrote the book for, is scheduled to be performed on July 29, 2010, featuring Jenna Leigh Green
Jenna Leigh Green
Jenna Leigh Green is an American actress and singer best known for her performances as Libby Chessler on the television show Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and on Broadway and on tour in the musical Wicked.-Early life and career:...

.

Plot

Blessed with beauty, wealth and charisma the "Flawless Four" are the most popular girls in Reagan High school. The clique consists of Courtney Alice Shayne (Rose McGowan
Rose McGowan
Rose Arianna McGowan is an actress and singer. She is known for her role as Paige Matthews in The WB Television Network supernatural drama series Charmed. She played Ann-Margret alongside Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Elvis Presley in the CBS mini-series Elvis...

); Marcie Fox (Julie Benz
Julie Benz
Julie M. Benz is an American actress, best known for her roles as Darla on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel and as Rita Bennett on Dexter, for which she won the 2006 Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television...

); Julie Freeman (Rebecca Gayheart
Rebecca Gayheart
-Early life:Gayheart was born in Hazard, Kentucky and raised in Pine Top, Kentucky, the daughter of Floneva , who worked as a Mary Kay independent beauty consultant, and Curtis Gayheart, a miner and coal truck driver. She is of Irish, Italian, and German descent...

); and Elizabeth Purr (Charlotte Roldan
Charlotte Ayanna
Charlotte Ayanna is an American actress and former Miss Teen USA.-Early life:Ayanna was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but moved to Vermont at an early age. She had a troubled childhood, spending thirteen years in foster homes after her mother, Emma, was judged to be mentally unfit to look after...

), the "Princess Di of Reagan High." Of the four, Elizabeth Purr was the only one who was genuinely kind-hearted and loved by the entire school. Julie was "doomed to be popular because of 'that face' and because she was best friends with Elizabeth Purr". Cold-blooded Courtney and her airheaded friend, Marcie, demanded respect through terror.

However during their senior year of school, Courtney, Marcie and Julie play a mindless prank on Liz the morning of her seventeenth birthday, by performing a fake kidnapping with Courtney ramming a jawbreaker
Gobstopper
Gobstoppers, known as jawbreakers in Canada and the United States, are a type of hard confectionery. They are usually round, usually range from about 1 cm across to 3 cm across and are traditionally very hard.The term...

 into her mouth to gag her. Still in her underwear, the girls trap Liz in the trunk of a car and drive off.

However, upon opening the trunk, they are greeted with the grisly sight of Liz dead, having choked to death by aspirating the jawbreaker into her larynx. Horrified, Julie wants to go to the police but Courtney forbids her. Instead, Courtney calls the school pretending to be Liz's mother and tells them Liz is ill and cannot attend school. To keep up appearances, Courtney, Marcie and Julie then go to school as though nothing had happened. When the principal sends school outcast Fern Mayo (Judy Greer
Judy Greer
Judy Greer is an American actress, known for portraying a string of supporting female characters, including Kitty Sanchez on the Fox series Arrested Development and Cheryl on the animated comedy series Archer...

) to deliver Liz's homework at the end of the day, she stumbles upon the three girls and Liz's mangled body. Out of jealousy, Courtney fabricates a story that Liz died at the hands of a rapist, and plots to tarnish Liz's good reputation by spreading false rumors that she was actually a rebellious, promiscuous girl, and not the perfect angel she made herself out to be.

Fern, who had admired Liz to the point of hero worship
Hero worship
Hero worship is defined as the foolish or excessive adulation for an individual. In Wikipedia, you may be searching for:*Hero Worship , an album released by Sandra Bernhard*Hero Worship...

, is appalled and attempts to flee the house, but the girls easily catch her. To buy Fern's silence, Courtney accepts Fern into the clique, telling her to take Liz's place. Courtney and Marcie then give her a makeover, transforming her from plain and awkward to elegant and beautiful. Later in the school cafeteria, Courtney introduces Fern as the beautiful exchange student "Vylette." Julie, overwhelmed by guilt at her part in Liz's death, distances herself from the clique, only to be targeted by her former friends. Her only real friend during this time is her drama student boyfriend, Zack.

As Vylette's popularity soars, Julie watches in mute horror as Courtney spins a relentless web of lies, trickery and manipulation to cover up the murder and maintain her popularity. Julie discovers, to her disgust, that after they'd returned Liz's corpse to her house, Courtney went out and seduced a stranger (Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson may refer to:* Marilyn Manson , an American rock musician* Marilyn Manson , the American rock band led by the singer of the same name...

) at a sleazy bar and had sex with him in Liz's bed, making it seem as though he had raped Liz.

In time, Vylette becomes intoxicated with her newfound popularity, which has eclipsed Courtney's own. Realizing she has created a monster, Courtney threatens to reveal the truth about Vylette, but Vylette vows she will reveal the whole truth about Liz's death if Courtney attempts to expose her. Infuriated, Courtney and Marcie post enlarged yearbook photos of Fern Mayo all over the school with the message "Who is Vylette" written on them, revealing Vylette's true identity. Fern is thoroughly humiliated by the entire school and once again reduced to an outcast. Feeling no remorse for the things she has done, Courtney casually attends the senior prom with her jock boyfriend, Dane Sanders.

Julie takes pity on Fern and forgives her for falling under Courtney's influence. Later that night as she sulks in her room, going through a bag of Liz's belongings that were given to her, Julie finds the recording card she was fiddling with when Courtney was faking Liz's death and discovers it has incidentally recorded Courtney's admission to the murder. Struck with an idea, Julie, Fern and Zack all hurry to the prom. As Dane and Courtney are announced as Prom King and Queen, Zack sneaks backstage and broadcasts the card message over the sound system while Courtney is making her acceptance speech.

Horrified that her scheme has become unravelled, Courtney races for the exit as the rest of the students pelt her with corsages and call her a murderer. Awaiting her at the very end of the mob is Julie, who gleefully snaps a picture of her former friend's anguished face to immortalize the occasion.

Main characters

Actor Role Description
Rose McGowan
Rose McGowan
Rose Arianna McGowan is an actress and singer. She is known for her role as Paige Matthews in The WB Television Network supernatural drama series Charmed. She played Ann-Margret alongside Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Elvis Presley in the CBS mini-series Elvis...

Courtney Alice Shayne Courtney, described as "Satan in Heels", is a cruel, sociopathic, self-absorbed high school senior, whose thoughtless prank on Elizabeth Purr left her dead. Courtney is obsessed with being feared by all around her and will stop at nothing to maintain her popularity. It is implied that Courtney intentionally murdered Liz out of envy that people adored Liz, and hated her. Courtney is finally exposed after Julie discovers the recording card she was holding when she said (and mistakenly held down the recording button), "I killed Liz. I killed the teen dream. Deal with it."
Rebecca Gayheart
Rebecca Gayheart
-Early life:Gayheart was born in Hazard, Kentucky and raised in Pine Top, Kentucky, the daughter of Floneva , who worked as a Mary Kay independent beauty consultant, and Curtis Gayheart, a miner and coal truck driver. She is of Irish, Italian, and German descent...

Julie Freeman Julie was stated to be "doomed to be popular", not just because of her beauty but also because of her close friendship with Elizabeth Purr. Initially just another snobby popular girl, Julie's attitude significantly changes after Liz's death. Julie repeatedly enforces her desire to tell the authorities what really happened, but Courtney refuses and, thus, kicks her from the clique. Her popularity declines and she is left nearly alone, unsupported by all except her boyfriend Zack. She eventually triumphs over Courtney at the senior prom after broadcasting her admission over the sound system.
Julie Benz
Julie Benz
Julie M. Benz is an American actress, best known for her roles as Darla on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel and as Rita Bennett on Dexter, for which she won the 2006 Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television...

Marcie Fox Courtney's dim-witted right hand woman, who has assigned herself the nickname "Foxy", oblivious to the fact that no one but herself ever calls her that. She comes from a single parent family, and shows disdain for her father. She is a typical, airheaded Valley girl
Valley girl
Valley Girl is a stereotype leveled at a socio-economic and ethnic class of American women who can be described as colloquial English-speaking and materialistic...

, spending most of her time trying to impress Courtney and speaking in outdated slang, but she also abandons Courtney after the truth of Liz's death is revealed to everyone and hides under a table.
Judy Greer
Judy Greer
Judy Greer is an American actress, known for portraying a string of supporting female characters, including Kitty Sanchez on the Fox series Arrested Development and Cheryl on the animated comedy series Archer...

Fern Mayo/Vylette Fern is a dull, mousy girl who is regarded with contempt and indifference by most of the student body. She also serves as the film's narrator
Narrator
A narrator is, within any story , the fictional or non-fictional, personal or impersonal entity who tells the story to the audience. When the narrator is also a character within the story, he or she is sometimes known as the viewpoint character. The narrator is one of three entities responsible for...

. Fern was one of Elizabeth Purr's many fans and admitted she often dreamed about being so beautiful and popular. After stumbling upon Liz's murder, Fern's silence is bought by Courtney and Marcie accepting her as one of them and turning her into a beautiful new student named "Vylette." Vylette however turns out to be just as spiteful and self-centred as Courtney, but her real identity is exposed to the school after she displeases Courtney. Fern joins forces with Julie to bring down Courtney after this.
Charlotte Ayanna
Charlotte Ayanna
Charlotte Ayanna is an American actress and former Miss Teen USA.-Early life:Ayanna was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but moved to Vermont at an early age. She had a troubled childhood, spending thirteen years in foster homes after her mother, Emma, was judged to be mentally unfit to look after...

Elizabeth "Liz" Purr The most popular girl in Reagan High. Elizabeth only appears in flashbacks or as a corpse, and does not utter a single line of dialogue throughout the entire film. Therefore what information is known of her comes from other characters. Elizabeth was a beautiful, wealthy girl and very kind-hearted. All of Reagan High adored her, and she treated people with kindness - which earned resentment from Courtney. Liz is killed by Courtney after the girls performed a fake kidnapping on her, and Courtney stuffs a jawbreaker into her mouth. Liz chokes to death in the trunk of the car.

Minor characters

  • Chad Christ as Zack Tartak
  • Ethan Erickson
    Ethan Erickson
    -Career:Born Ethan Skip Erickson in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Erickson once played the recurring role in Buffy the Vampire Slayer as jock Percy West, that actress Alyson Hannigan's character Willow Rosenberg tutors. He appeared in both season 3 and season 4 as the same character...

     as Dane Sanders
  • Pam Grier
    Pam Grier
    Pamela Suzette "Pam" Grier is an American actress. She became famous in the early 1970s, after starring in a string of moderately successful women in prison and blaxploitation films such as 1974's Foxy Brown. Her career was revitalized in 1997 after her appearance in Quentin Tarantino's film...

     as Det. Vera Cruz
  • Carol Kane
    Carol Kane
    Carolyn Laurie "Carol" Kane is an American actress. Kane has worked on the stage, on the screen and in television. She appeared on the television series Taxi in the early 1980s, as the wife of the character played by Andy Kaufman. She received two Emmy Awards for her work...

     as Ms. Sherwood
  • Marilyn Manson
    Marilyn Manson
    Marilyn Manson may refer to:* Marilyn Manson , an American rock musician* Marilyn Manson , the American rock band led by the singer of the same name...

     as The Stranger/Rapist
  • Tatyana Ali
    Tatyana Ali
    Tatyana Marisol Ali is an American actress and R&B singer, best known for her childhood role as Ashley Banks on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air...

     as Brenda
  • P. J. Soles
    P. J. Soles
    P. J. Soles is an American film and television actress, known for her roles as Lynda van der Klok in Halloween, Norma Watson in Carrie and Bill Murray's military girlfriend Stella in Stripes....

     as Mrs. Purr
  • William Katt
    William Katt
    William Theodore Katt is an American film and television actor, best known as the star of The Greatest American Hero. He is also known for playing Tommy Ross, the ill-fated prom date of Carrie White in the film version of Carrie and Paul Drake Jr. in the Perry Mason TV movies...

     as Mr. Purr
  • Jeff Conaway
    Jeff Conaway
    Jeffrey Charles William Michael "Jeff" Conaway was an American actor best known for his roles in the movie Grease and the US television series Taxi and Babylon 5. Conaway was featured on the first season of reality series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew...

     as Mr. Fox

Reception

The film was met with mainly negative reviews. It currently holds a 7% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...

 based on 57 reviews (4 positive, 53 negative). Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...

 gave the film 1 and a half out of 4, stating "The movie is a slick production of a lame script ... If anyone in the plot had the slightest intelligence, the story would implode". Francesca Dinglasan from Boxoffice magazine
Boxoffice (magazine)
Boxoffice is a film industry magazine dedicated to the movie theatre business published by Boxoffice Media LP. It started in 1920 as The Reel Journal, taking its current name in 1931 and still publishes today, with an intended audience of theatre owners and film professionals.Boxoffice is the...

gave the film 1 and a half out of 5, criticizing the film's humor and similarities to Heathers
Heathers
Heathers is a 1989 black comedy film starring Winona Ryder, Christian Slater and Shannen Doherty. The film portrays four girls in a trend-setting clique at a fictional Ohio high school...

. James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli is an American online film critic.-Personal life:Berardinelli was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey and spent his early childhood in Morristown, New Jersey. At the age of nine years, he relocated to the township of Cherry Hill, New Jersey...

 gave the film a more favorable 2 and a half out of 4, calling it "palatable, and occasionally even clever", however concluding that "while the film offers more than a Heathers rehash, it never fully develops its own identity.

Soundtrack

Track # Song Title Artist Length
1.
Yoo Hoo Imperial Teen
Imperial Teen
Imperial Teen is a San Francisco-based indie pop group made up of Roddy Bottum primarily on guitar/vocals, Will Schwartz primarily on guitar/vocals, Lynn Truell primarily on drums and backing vocals, and Jone Stebbins primarily on bass and backing...

3:31
2.
I See Letters To Cleo
Letters to Cleo
Letters to Cleo was an alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts perhaps best known for the 1993 single "Here & Now" from their full-length debut album Aurora Gory Alice...

3:56
3.
Next To You Edna Swap 2:35
4.
Don't Call Me Babe Shampoo
Shampoo (band)
Shampoo were a British all-girl band in the 1990s, formed by Jacqui Blake and Caroline "Carrie" Askew. They were most famous for their hit song, "Trouble".-History:...

2:58
5.
Bad Word For A Good Thing Friggs 2:53
6.
Stay In Bed Grand Mal
Grand Mal (band)
Grand Mal is an American rock band, formed by Bill Whitten in New York City in 1995 and has recorded for No.6 Records, Slash/London Records, Arena Rock Recording Co., New York Night Train and Groover Recordings.-Members:...

4:49
7.
Flow Transister
Transister
Transister is an alternative rock band, formed in late 1995 in Los Angeles, by music industry veterans from both the United States and the United Kingdom. Despite only having released one album to moderate sales, their work has been featured on a number of film soundtracks...

5:59
8.
She Bop Howie Beno 3:06
9.
Water Boy Imperial Teen
Imperial Teen
Imperial Teen is a San Francisco-based indie pop group made up of Roddy Bottum primarily on guitar/vocals, Will Schwartz primarily on guitar/vocals, Lynn Truell primarily on drums and backing vocals, and Jone Stebbins primarily on bass and backing...

1:36
10.
Rock You Like a Hurricane
Rock You Like a Hurricane
"Rock You Like a Hurricane" a song by the German heavy metal band Scorpions. The song was released as the second track of their 1984 album Love at First Sting.-Description:...

Scorpions
Scorpions (band)
Scorpions are a heavy metal/hard rock band from Hannover, Germany, formed in 1965 by guitarist Rudolf Schenker, who is the band's only constant member. They are known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and many singles, such as "No One Like You", "Send Me an Angel", "Still...

4:14
11.
Rock 'n' Roll Machine The Donnas
The Donnas
The Donnas are an American all-female rock band from Palo Alto, California. They draw inspiration from The Ramones, The Runaways, AC/DC, Bachman–Turner Overdrive and Kiss. Rolling Stone has stated that "the Donnas offer a guileless take on adolescent alienation; they traffic in kicks, not...

2:54
12.
Beat You Up The Prissteens 2:36
13.
Trouble Shampoo
Shampoo (band)
Shampoo were a British all-girl band in the 1990s, formed by Jacqui Blake and Caroline "Carrie" Askew. They were most famous for their hit song, "Trouble".-History:...

3:21

See also

  • Heathers
    Heathers
    Heathers is a 1989 black comedy film starring Winona Ryder, Christian Slater and Shannen Doherty. The film portrays four girls in a trend-setting clique at a fictional Ohio high school...

  • Carrie (1976 film)
  • Jawbreakers
    Gobstopper
    Gobstoppers, known as jawbreakers in Canada and the United States, are a type of hard confectionery. They are usually round, usually range from about 1 cm across to 3 cm across and are traditionally very hard.The term...

  • Sugar & Spice
    Sugar & Spice
    Sugar & Spice is a 2001 American teen crime comedy film directed by Francine McDougall. It was filmed entirely in the state of Minnesota.-Plot:...


External links

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