Not Another Teen Movie

(2001)
By and large Im not a big fan of spoof movies they tend to get silly and stupid and usually have one really good laugh that is spoiled by being in the trailer (which they sort of have to do or you wouldnt go, but thats the point). I missed this one when it came out, though I really should have seen it because Im still a sucker for a well-done teen flick. But I caught it last week on TV, when it was heavily abridged; while I thought it was funny, I wanted to see it in the way it was intended it, so I rented it and took a look. Not Another Teen Movie is absurdly funny in spots. It pokes fun of movies from the John Hughes classics of the eighties up through movies like Bring It On, Shes all That, Cruel Intentions, and so on. The premise is mostly stolen from Shes All That: witchy cheerleader Priscilla (Jamie Pressly) dumps jock Jake (Chris Evans) and his callous (and especially stupid) friends make him a bet that he cant turn an ugly duckling into a swan. Enter Janey (Chyler Leigh), who like every girl in these movies is actually very pretty but here hides it behind glasses and a ponytail. Jake has to transform Janey into prom queen material, which he attempts to do with the help of his extremely disturbed sister Catherine (a skilled parody of Sarah Michelle Gellar from Cruel Intentions, handled well by Mia Kirshner) Along the way they encounter every stereotype from every teen film, from the horny younger brother (Bring It Ons Cody McMains) to the bitchy pretty girls, to parties, the prom, the big finale, the pining best friend, and so on. Just about every clich is touched on, some with more wit than others. The movie is also exceedingly raunchy. Theres gratuitous nudity (one foreign exchange student never actually wears anything at all), a lot of swearing, and an awful lot of bathroom humor (some of it literal). There are also a number of fun cameos from a few of the actors who starred in the eighties film (the teacher from The Breakfast Club, for example), including a surprise at the end thats incredibly funny. Not Another Teen Film isnt brilliant comedy, and sometimes it tries too hard (or like in the parody of the kissing scene between Sarah Michelle Gellar and Selma Blair from Cruel Intentions, it goes way too far), but there are some really good laughs sandwiched between the raunch. The movie manages to consistently elicit chuckles, and its certainly worth a look for those of us who grew up on these films twenty years ago or still enjoy the new crop being churned out. December 5, 2004