I stumbled across this movie on TV and was surprised I'd never heard of it. The title is forgettable, but the film certainly isn't. This movie really captures something universal about women's education, starting with cute preppy girls acting all bad-ass and rebellious...then slowly realizing they have actual power to change things in the world. Delightful performances, hilarious situations and a positive feminine tone. I liked how the main characters got what they wanted—and then realized they were better than that.Having been part of the Mills College Student Strike in 1991, I also found this movie to be very meaningful in light of the fact that Mills was the only women's college to actually turn around a decision to go co-ed (Mrs. Godards's is, alas, fictional). Insightful and incisive writing is so subtly well-nestled in the plot you don't realize it's political. Kristen Dunst's rantings at the DAR's secret meeting and Vanessa Redgrave's bitter tantrum at the beginning of the third act provide some great insights into the state of women's education.Some of the reviews on this site are alarmingly condescending. One guy writes (yes, in all caps and with more exclamation points than a teenage girl), "THE LIVES OF TEENAGE GIRLS ARE UNINTERESTING!!!!" I find it so sad that this sort of judgment seems to have kept audiences away from what really should have been as big a hit as Dead Poet's Society (more interesting, presumably, because it was about boys and someone died) had been a decade earlier.

I can promise you that there are probably thousands (if Thousands saw this) that would call this their favorite movie and giggle while they say it. Strike! (as I knew it as) or All I Wanna Do as Netflix knows it as is definitely set to impress a very specific demographic but does it even hit the nail on the head in that aspect? The film is set in the sixties and there is no doubt they are trying to capitalize on the popularity of a previous similar film in 1995 called Now And Then. But this one doesn't have flashbacks or flash forwards. Instead this is about a precocious (I think that's being too kind) group of friends getting into insane trouble while trying to keep their All-Girls School from going co-ed. The girls are barely likable, obnoxious in fact, and they certainly shouldn't be the role model for anyone that this film would be trying to sell itself to. The girls are really the group of girls you'd probably hate...and instead they're put as the 'heroes' of the story and you will have a good time with their antics but you won't fall in love with the story, the setting or the characters.One of the busiest actresses in Hollywood even in the nineties Kirsten Dunst was probably a wise choice to lead this cast. She does have a lot of personality but wow is she ever obnoxious in this. I mean I understand her character is loud and bossy but that doesn't make her fun to watch. Dunst is Dunst and if you like then she did a decent job and if you don't...well your annoyance meter will run high for this role. Another teen cult favorite Gaby Hoffmann (she was actually in the aforementioned Now And Then) plays tom-boy rebel Odette. I think she's probably the strongest actress in the film and her character is probably the most likable as well. Rachael Leigh Cook is also good in her role but her role is kept too small unfortunately because I think she could have done better as more of a main character than a supporting one. Monica Keena, Heather Matarazzo, Matthew Lawrence and Vincent Kartheiser all round out the supporting cast and I honestly think if you flipped this cast around in order of importance...giving more time to Cook, Matarazzo, Lawrence...and less time to Dunst...this might have been this films saving grace.I think that they had a good idea, and good intentions but the script really held this film back. You have to consider whether something that looks fun or sounds funny on paper translates to live action because sometimes it doesn't. Writer/Director Sarah Kernochan helms her own script and that might be a stumble on their part. Kernochan is a songwriter and maybe this is just an idea she was sitting on for awhile and decided to give it a go but either way the film definitely lacks a certain amount of expertise. The demographic that the film is made for I wouldn't let my 11-13 Year old daughter see the movie and everyone else older than that will just see it as fluff. You'll get a chuckle here and there but more groans than anything else. 6/10

This has got to be my favorite movie of all times- i've watched it at least 50 times, and I know the entire script! its about a girls school, and they found out they're going to merge with a boys school, so they try to stop it at all costs. It shows i twisted version of how life was back then, and its hilarious to see all their plans to stop the merger.Kirsten Dunst is the leader, and she's great at it! Also Gaby Hoffman is the new girl and is split between whether to support th merger or be against it, as half the DAR(daughters of the American ravioli- they eat canned ravioli in a secret room in the attic of their school)love boys and want to go through with the merger, and the other ones think it will pull down their grade average, and all their friends will become bimbos to impress the boys. She doesn't want to lose either of her friends, so tries to be for it and against it at the same time. It shows that not all teenage girls at girls schools are obsessed with boys, and even though it's a bit over-the-top, it's so fun to watch. I give it 2 thumbs up- definitely a must see!

There were some amusing moments, but I guess the fact that I'm not a teenage girl was a problem. There were some fairly intelligent moments, too (not exactly something I expected) but it's no cinematic masterwork. (I suppose that's a given) It is nice to see that teen movies are getting at least a little bit racier. I can't wait for the day (or night, rather) that I watch this at a midnite art house screening on a double bill with something like Salo: 120 Days of Sodom. Now THAT would be something to talk about...