Michael Lehmann’s 1989 film “Heathers” features Winona Ryder as Veronica, an Ohio high schooler who finds herself entangled with a trio of girls sharing the name Heather (played by Kim Walker, Lisanne Falk and Shannen Doherty). As she spends more time with them, her feelings toward them begin to sour. Then JD (Christian Slater), a new student with a dark sense of humor, arrives, offering Veronica a peculiar way out of her predicament. This is an unusual teen film that aims for edginess and laughs through its dark comedy and frequent use of strong language. Later movies took cues from it, such as “Jawbreaker” (1999) and possibly even “Mean Girls” (2004). The movie’s observations about the pressures teens face, adolescent suicide, and the damaging nature of social groups are quite powerful. While young people can be swayed by those deemed popular, they're also susceptible to influence from those on the fringes. Slater is memorable as a sort of dark version of the Fonz from the late 80s; it’s arguably one of his strongest performances. Ryder delivers an unexpectedly strong performance as the main character—I wasn’t ever particularly fond of her acting before, though I didn't dislike it either. The initial portion of the film is quite enjoyable, but the plot loses momentum in the middle section; fortunately, the final twenty minutes regain some energy. The atmosphere of the late 1980s is fantastic. I won’t reveal what happens, but apparently the original ending was significantly darker. There was another alternate conclusion that wasn't used either. It seems studio executives pushed the writer/director to use the version shown in theaters, and I think that was a good decision. Ultimately it’s a story about finding your way back; being led astray by flawed individuals doesn't have to determine who you are permanently. The film has a running time of 1 hour and 43 minutes and was filmed in Los Angeles (the high school scenes) and the surrounding areas, including Santa Monica, Tujunga, and Pasadena. The screenplay was written by Daniel Waters. GRADE: B-/C+

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