Would you believe a loose adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma plonked down squarely in Beverly Hills 90210? Well, that's the setting for this screamingly funny satire-cum-put-on, which perfectly captures the inanities of contemporary teen America. Alicia Silverstone is a delight as Cher, the chic but dippy blonde who's devoted to improving the love lives of her Rodeo Drive-shopping high-school girlfriends, even though she can't sort out her own. Together with her best friend Dionne (Stacey Dash), Cher indulges in the trials and tribulations of designer-label animosity and MTV promiscuity, while her lawyer father (Dan Hedaya) and intellectual stepbrother (Paul Rudd) look on in total bemusement. Like Heathers before it, director Amy Heckerling's smart satire sharpens its comedic scalpel on the manners and mores of self-centred fashion victims. A quick note about the Clueless lingo: "majorly" means very, "do-able" means sexually attractive, a "hottie" is a do-able babe and a "Baldwin" is a gorgeous hunk. While mainly aimed at teens, like all fine comedies it will appeal to anyone with a wicked sense of humour and taste for the ironic. It's also one of those rare comedies which remains funny even when not delivering great one-liners. Examples? "What did you do in school today?" "Oh, I broke in my purple clogs"; "What's the point of learning to park when every place you go to has a valet?"; "My plastic surgeon doesn't want me doing any activity where balls fly at my nose." You'll have to watch the movie to hear the hilariously vulgar riposte to the latter.

Shallow, rich and socially successful Cher is at the top of her Beverly Hills high school's pecking scale. Seeing herself as a matchmaker, Cher first coaxes two teachers into dating each other. Emboldened by her success, she decides to give hopelessly klutzy new student Tai a makeover. When Tai becomes more popular than she is, Cher realizes that her disapproving ex-stepbrother was right about how misguided she was -- and falls for him.