Salguero Selects

Hi, and welcome to Salguero Selects – my weekly feel-good film recommendation.
Each week I’ll be recommending a film for you (and maybe your family) to enjoy and the focus will be on the warm and fuzzy. Films that simply can’t fail to cheer you up. Some of these might be classics we all know and love, but some might be ones you’ve never even heard of! But they’ll all have one thing in common: the feel-good factor!

A few people I’ve spoken to this week seem to be having a bit of a dip and have found things a bit more difficult. I read an article written by a probation officer who works with people who are tagged and remanded at home. Apparently there’s a definite pattern and week 3 is the lowest point; it’s from week 4 that people start to bounce back up again and find some positivity in doing things at home. I hope that if you’ve struggled this week, this pattern rings true for you.
But for the time being here’s something to lift your spirits…
Clueless
“It's like that book I read in the 9th grade that said, ‘tis a far, far better thing doing stuff for other people’."
Some films are works of art in their own right. Others have something important to tell us about society. This film does neither of these things. BUT, it’s sweet, funny and is about the joy that can be found in helping others which is probably more relevant than ever right now! It’s also (loosely) based on Jane Austen’s ‘Emma’ so you can also count it as English homework, am I right?!
The film centres on Cher Horowitz, a rich high school girl from Beverly Hills, who, despite at first seeming like a bit of a spoiled airhead, is actually much sweeter and smarter than you think. After matchmaking two of her teachers and seeing how happy they become, she realises that helping others feels great and sets out to do good deeds for others.
This could easily be dismissed as ‘just another high school movie’ but I would say it’s a cut above most films of that genre. The cast is perfect, including a young Paul Rudd as Cher’s step-brother (Ant Man to all you Marvel fans), the script is funny and perfectly encapsulates the ‘Valley’ speak that defined the mid-nineties and finally it (like) totally has the feel-good factor!
Reasons your parents will enjoy it: They probably went to school in the nineties and will be able to tell you that… it was absolutely nothing like the school in Clueless. But they’ll find the references funny and will remember people talking like that. As if!
Reasons your younger siblings will enjoy it: It’s rated 12 so probably not suitable for younger siblings – save it for when they’ve gone to bed.
Reasons you’ll enjoy it: Because next time your parents criticise what you are wearing you can refer to this film and point out that fashion was ridiculous when they were young!
(Currently available on Netflix, Amazon Prime and YouTube Movies).