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Today's Date is:

Heathers

Reviewed by: Clare Warmke
Genre: Comedy
Video: Widescreen 1.85:1, enhanced for 16x9 television sets
Audio: Dolby Digital Surround 2.0 and 5.1
Language: English
Subtitle: None
Length: 103 minutes
Rating: R
Release Date: 9-18-01
Studio: Anchor Bay
Commentary: Featuring director Michael Lehmann, producer Denise Di Novi and writer Daniel Waters
Documentaries: A 30-minute documentary titled Swatch Dogs and Diet Coke Heads features recent interviews with actors Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, and director Michael Lehmann, writer Daniel Waters, producer Denise Di Novi, director of photography Francis Kenny and editor Norman Hollyn.
Featurettes: None
Filmography/Biography: Talent bios, including filmographies, for the director, producer, writer, and actors Winona Ryder, Christian Slater and Shannen Doherty
Interviews: None independent from those spliced into the 30-minute documentary
Trailers/TV Spots: One theatrical trailer
Alternate/Deleted Scenes: Screenplay excerpt of the original ending
Music Video: None
Other: None
Cast and Crew: Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk
Screenplay by: Daniel Waters
Produced by: Denise Di Novi
Directed By: Michael Lehmann
Music: David Newman
The Review: This movie shocked and disturbed audiences when it came out in 1989 and now, 12 years later – or more specifically, 2 years after the 1999 violence at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado – it might shock and disturb even more. Heathers became a cult classic in the years after its original release with the fall-and-rise story of Veronica Sawyer (Winona Ryder), a member of Westerburg High’s most popular clique, the Heathers. Veronica’s fantasy dark side stays contained in the pages of her diary until she meets the film’s arch-eyebrowed anti-hero, J.D. (Christian Slater). Their budding love isn’t innocent – it’s littered with murders they disguise as suicides. It’s a “rah-rah, destruction!” film that was a fun and startling romp in the late Eighties. Now it might need a little nostalgia to enjoy thoroughly – especially in the first violent scene, in which high-school outsider J.D. whips a long-barreled pistol out of his black trenchcoat and fires at two jocks in the school cafeteria. Heathers has been politically uncomfortable since Daniel Waters penned the story while working at a video rental store. When the movie came out, the political flutter was over the teen suicide element. Waters’ screenplay became enormously popular because it revealed the cruelty and ridiculousness of high school with incisive humor and honesty. Here, finally, was a movie that could include teen suicide without sounding a bit like an afterschool special. Despite the fact that this is a fictional account of one girl’s surreal experience of dating a full-blown (pun intended) psychopath, it rings true of the high-school experience. Teens recognize the cadence of truth in the words and sequencing of this flick – and Heathers will rightfully live on because of it.
Image and Sound Film first shot in 1989 appears clear and true on this DVD. Director of Photography Francis Kenny’s original vision of having the film begin with a color palette of plucky pastels that eventually darken into somber colors as the characters become more menacing is communicated with clarity. Flesh tones are almost always realistic, though in a very few scenes look a touch washed-out or over-lightened. The image quality is not going to be superior for this film, because it was originally shot on a desperately low budget for a dying production company. Considering that, the digital re-mastering may in fact be an improvement over the original. David Newman did a superb job selecting timeless music, particularly the song that opens and closes the film, “Que Sera Sera.” Singer Syd Straw’s unfettered version of the Doris Day classic lilts over the opening credits, as the audience gets their first glimpse of the Heathers clique – playing croquet in fussy, upper-class outfits that color coordinate with their croquet balls. In a nice bit of circular storytelling, the coming-of-age song also closes the film, but this time, it’s a soulful, robust version by Sly and the Family Stone. The music – particularly this song – adeptly follows the character of Veronica from innocence to complexity. The music throughout the body of the movie was instrumental and unobtrusive, letting the story focus on the characters. One other piece of music featured largely, though; the pop-culture-cheese “Teenage Suicide Don’t Do It” by Big Fun. Besides this obvious exception, the music used in this film doesn’t scream “80s!” and translates well to a digital format.
The Extras The extras package on this disc gave just enough to get a cult-film fanatic aching for more. It’s a decently loaded DVD, containing a full audio commentary, a 30-minute documentary, a theatrical trailer, a screenplay excerpt of the original ending and talent bios of the major players. The documentary “Swatch Dogs and Diet Coke Heads” gives wonderful over-the-shoulder insight on the film from its actors and creators, all of whom still seem to have fresh energy in discussing what made this film great to bring into being. Winona Ryder, in particular, trumpets the film as still being her favorite film ever made. The documentary features new interviews with Ryder, Slater, Doherty, Lisanne Falk (who played one of the Heathers), Lehmann, Waters, Di Novi, and also photography director Francis Kenny and editor Norman Hollyn. A few too-brief 12-year-old interview excerpts from Ryder and Slater are slipped into the documentary, leaving the audience to pine for more original media coverage. A delight within the documentary is the tangential information about the origins of its creators; for example, quick snippets of Lehmann’s notable and early film project “The Beaver Gets a Boner” gives some insight into how he got tapped to do Heathers as his first feature film. (Waters makes it clear in both the documentary and the commentary that he wanted legend Stanley Kubrick to direct his be-all end-all high school saga.) The other extras – a punchy minute-and-40-second movie trailer and a written screenplay excerpt of the original, more sinister ending – give cult fanatics a little more to nibble on, but what this disc could benefit from would be more on-the-scene anecdotes and anomalies from the making of the film. The disc simply needs more dish. Heathers fans have scoured what’s known of this film’s history and development; this disc needs to give them something new and unexpected. Some juicy nuggets crop up in the commentary, mostly from Waters, but the commentary was a dialogue between the writer, director and producer and none of the actors. What about a commentary from Winona Ryder? Christian Slater? Even commentary by more marginal characters like Martha Dumptruck (played by Carrie Lynn) would likely have revealed some unknown perspectives on this classic. A limited edition of this disc has also been released with an accompanying 48-page yearbook-style photo book and 10-page foldout with photos, liner notes and a “Heathers Rules!” ruler. It seems that the actual information on the regular and limited edition are exactly the same, but the limited edition seems to understand a cult audience’s need for more tangible and varied film treasures.
Commentary The real treat of the extras is the audio commentary by Waters, Lehmann and producer Di Novi. Waters is, like his film, hilarious and truthful, and Lehmann, in true director style, doesn’t let the action lag. He jumps in with technical production information about the current scene each time the conversation between the three of them threatens to slow (which isn’t often, thankfully), while Waters interrupts frequently with close-to-contentious ribs about the changes that were made to his original script. Perhaps the biggest giggle factor comes from listening to Lehmann and Di Novi attempt to be diplomatic when talking about the notoriously difficult Shannen Doherty, while Waters tries to get them to simply say she was a bitch to work with. The best thing about the commentary, though, is that many of the questions that come to mind when watching the film (Moby Dick? A gleeful bit of channel surfing after committing murder? 2 minutes and 18 seconds that lasts more like 10 minutes?) are answered or discussed.
Final Words:

For another movie, a disc containing a documentary, commentary, a trailer and a screenplay excerpt would be a bounty of tantalizing goodies – and the offerings on the Heathers disc are well done and fun. However, a movie that sustains its worship status amongst a very dedicated and large fan base needs to give its groupies all it can – and give it something completely unexpected. A full commentary by Carrie Lynn – whose character only speaks four audible words in the movie, but is a major factor in the realization of the main character – would have been surprising and irresistible. Also, more time with the wacky mind of writer Waters would surely have unearthed more treasures for Heathers fans. In fairness, this disc doesn’t disappoint; it gives a great deal of great material. And if you’re a Heathers fan, you’ll buy it regardless of how chock-full its extras are, so go forth and consider it money well spent.


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 October 6, 2001