cover image Everything I Need to Know, I Learned from a Chick Flick

Everything I Need to Know, I Learned from a Chick Flick

Kimberly Potts. Citadel Press, $12.95 (224pp) ISBN 978-0-8065-2803-8

In this quick, absorbing tongue-in-cheek reference, Potts draws important life lessons (""family is where the heart is,"" ""living well is the only revenge"") from more than 60 Hollywood ""chick flicks,"" a term she uses loosely enough to include Clueless, Coal Miner's Daughter and Carrie. Pop culture writer Potts profiles each movie with a summary, memorable ""girl talk"" dialogue and production trivia, capping some entries with ""quickie"" lessons and filling in extra space with boxed looks at topics such as TV movies, chick flicks ""that dudes won't hate,"" and on-screen sex scenes. Flicks include all the obvious choices-Terms of Endearment, Steel Magnolias, A League of Their Own, Waiting to Exhale, Thelma & Louise, Pretty Woman-but Potts throws some unusual choices into the mix, celebrating, for instance, the love-hate-kill relationship between Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in Mr. & Mrs. Smith and the role of girl power in Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves' action movie Speed. Potts infuses her title with enough passion, humor and good intentions to please fans of the genre, who will not only enjoy revisiting their favorites but also pick up at least a few solid recommendations.