Get Your Reps In: “Jawbreaker” Serves Sugary, Sweet Death

What to see at Portland’s repertory theaters.

Jawbreaker (1999) (IMDB)
By Chance Solem-Pfeifer

Jawbreaker (1999)

“Sugary, sweet death” arrives in the opening moments of Jawbreaker. And what a way to go, as three popular high school girls prank their friend and accidentally asphyxiate her with the titular hard candy.

It’s a mean-spirited inciting incident, but that’s the referential pond in which this post-Heathers comedy is swimming, ratcheting up the shallow cruelty of the ‘90s high school movie to ironic heights.

Jawbreaker screens at the Hollywood Theatre on April 27 as part of the “Isn’t She Great” women-in-comedy series, and Portland standup Julia Corral will open the show.

Panned on arrival in 1999, Jawbreaker today reads more like a candy-coated artifact of spite, and the movie kicks into gear when anemic loner Fern (Judy Greer) takes the dead girl’s place in the clique that killed her. Greer’s manic comedy chops shine as she almost instantly becomes too arch and conspicuous for even the wicked conspiracy leader (Rose McGowan).

Plus, Jawbreaker contains the rare Greer vs. Grier showdown! In the manslaughter’s fallout, Judy is interrogated by the legendary Pam in what’s certainly the best-acted scene of the film, also producing its most memorable line: “This is high school, Detective Cruz. What is a friend anyway?” Hollywood Theatre, April 27.

ALSO PLAYING:

5th Avenue: Rebels of the Neon God (1992), April 26–28. Academy: Dr. Strangelove (1964) April 26–May 2. Night Shift (1982), April 26–May 2. Cinema 21: Diner (1982), April 27. Cinemagic: Up in Smoke (1978), April 30. Clinton: Son of the White Mare (1981) with live score, April 25. Return of the Living Dead 3 (1993), April 27. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), April 27. Blacula (1972), April 30. Hollywood: Stargate (1994), April 26. RRR (2022), April 27. Stop Making Sense (1984), April 27. Hellboy (2004), April 28. Kung Fu Hustle (2004), April 28. Tomorrow: That Happened: A Story About Do Jump (2024), April 26. My Animal (2023), April 27. Hollywood 90028 (1973), April 27. Bye Bye Tiberias (2024), April 28.

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