Not Another Teen Movie (2001) | Review #2

Starring: Chris Evans, Chyler Leigh, Mia Kirshner, Jaime Pressly, Cody McMains, Lacey Chabert
Director: Joel Gallen

Rating: R

Studio: Columbia

Review Posted: 12.12.01

Spoilers: No

Rating: 2.5/4

By Sara M. Fetters.

"Not Bad, Not Good - Just funny"

You knew it had to happen sooner or later.

The last half-decade has seen the re-emergence of the teen film as a viable genre in Hollywood. Why? Teen comedies and drama are cheap to produce, are outlets for mega cross-promotions via soundtracks and television and you never know when one is going to hit it big.

Granted, for every American Pie or Save the Last Dance that becomes a box office behemoth, there are countless Head Over Heels and Summer Catch’s that fail to even register upon the turnstile radar. But even those don’t lose money for their studios what with home video and other ancillary revenues. So they crank them out one after the other with the hope that one of them will catch lightning in a bottle and become the next big thing.

It was only a matter of time before a studio got the bright idea to make a parody of the whole “teen film” genre, even if that entire group was collapsing into self parody as it is. But boldly following in the footsteps of Scary Movie and anything out of the Zucker/Abrams/Zucker (Airplane) oeuvre comes Not Another Teen Movie, and as such films go it isn’t entirely a waste of time.

If that sounds decidedly non-committal I’m sorry because it is the best I’m going to give. You don’t so much “review” scatter-shot comedies such as these as sit back and try to count the laughs. If anything, you do your best to survive the joke-a-second onslaught and hope you find maybe one out of every six to be funny.

Not Another lampoons nearly every teen film made over the past ten years, as well as every John Hughes film made during the 1980’s. The basic cast of characters attending John Hughes High School include the “popular jock” Jake Wyler (Chris Evans), the “pretty ugly girl” Janey Briggs (Chyler Leigh), the “nasty cheerleader” Priscilla (Jaime Pressley), the “cruelest girl in school” Catherine Wyler (Mia Kirshner) and  - well – I’m sure you get the idea.

I’m not going to waste time trying to go over the plot (there isn’t one – but is that really a surprise?), the important thing here is whether Not Another is funny or not. Well, it sure starts well. The opening riff on American Pie is as funny a sequence of film I’ve seen all year. I don’t think I’ve laughed so hard in ages. There are some great sight gags and some highly amusing takes on Cruel Intentions, She’s All That, Can’t Hardly Wait, Varsity Blues, The Breakfast Club, Bring It On, Weird Science, The Goonies and just about everything that’s ever starred Freddie Prinze, Jr.

Yet, while there are a couple mildly amusing cameos and some of the parody choices thankfully come out of left field (think Rudy and Almost Famous), after a deliriously funny start the movie gradually loses its momentum and even at 82 minutes it drags. Still, the cast is game; especially Evans and Kirshner (a fabulous actress known for quirky material like Atom Egoyan’s Exotica); and Party of Five’s Lacey Chabert does a dead-on Jennifer Love Hewitt impersonation.

In the end, the film made me laugh a bit more than it didn’t and wasn’t too much of a chore to sit through. As recommendations go, it’s the best I’ve got in me, and probably more than Not Another Teen Movie deserves.

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