Not Another Teen Movie
Review
by : Gareth Von Kallenbach
Starring:
Janey Briggs (Chyler Leigh), Jake Wyler (Chris
Evans), Catherine Wyler (Mia Kirshner)
Directed by: Joel Gallen
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During my teen years I like many in my peer group were portrayed
by characters in a series of films that dealt with teen issues
and lifestyles. Most of the better films were by John Hughes
who in his pre Home Alone days gave us many classics in this
genre. Films ranging from "The Breakfast Club", "Sixteen Candles",
"Pretty in Pink" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", not only
made stars out of a bevy of young actors, but created scenarios
and characters that became part of the American culture.
As the
1990s came around teen films underwent a change. The Brat
Pack as they became known were too old to play the rolls that
made them famous and forced them to make the difficult transition
from teen stars to adult rolls that were far less successful
then their earlier works. Before long a new generation of
teen stars ranging from Freddie Prinze Jr. to Jason Biggs
emerged. The fact that many of the actors were in there twenties
was of little concern to audiences as teens once again flocked
to the theaters.
Many of
the new films lacked the charm of the previous generation
of films but they did continue the traditions of horny teens
learning about life and love in settings and situations that
were far more common in Hollywood than they ever would be
in reality. As the quality of the films dropped, it became
harder and harder to tell them apart, as casts and titles
were so generic that distinguishing between them was difficult
for even the most devoted fans.
In 2000
Keenan Ivory Wayans took aim at the horror film genre and
had audiences laughing in the aisles with "Scary Movie". The
fact that the rushed sequel was not as popular seemed to make
little difference to filmmakers as it turned a profit and
showed that spoof films have a built in audience. With the
horror genre already covered, screenwriters Mike Bender and
Adam Epstein decided to take aim at teen films and created
"Not Another Teen Movie". The movie is a mixed bag of spoofs
and scenes that are all too familiar to anyone who has ever
seen a teen film in the last twenty years. The film is set
in John Hughes High School and features the usual assortment
of characters. There is the beauty in nerds clothing Janey
Briggs (Chyler Leigh), The air headed but rich and popular
jock Jake Wyler (Chris Evans), The Obsessive best friend Ricky
(Eric Jungmann), The bitchy cheerleader Priscilla (Jamie Pressly),
The cruel girl Catherine Wyler (Mia Kirshner), and the Token
Black Guy Malik (Deon Richmond). The characters also have
a myriad of peers who are inspired from a range of teen films.
The fat best friend, the sexy exchange student, and the geeks
after sex, are just a few of the familiar characters that
spend far more time getting in and out of trouble than they
ever do in their classrooms.
The film
does not have much of a plot in keeping with the films that
inspired it. It is a mixture of scenes and scenarios from
the films that inspired it. What it does have is an abundance
of jokes some of which are very crude but also very funny.
I was gagging at the re-enactment of the Lesbian kiss scene
from "Cruel Intentions" and the "Grease" parody was inspired.
The film loses its pacing towards the end of the film, and
some of the jokes bomb badly. The filmmakers seem to be using
the old "Airplane" style that the Zucker brothers perfected
of bombarding the audience with jokes and taking the laughs
when they arrive. For the most part this strategy works. While
it is not going to win any awards or set standards for quality
filmmaking, "Not Another Teen Movie" has some laughs and if
you do not mind crude humor, you may just find yourself laughing
along with the film as the press audience did. One of the
biggest treats of the film is trying to discover what film
they are spoofing before they move on to the next scene and
spotting the number of cameos in the film. It is obvious that
the creative forces did not take the film to seriously and
if you do not, you just might find yourself laughing along.
Gareth
Von Kallenbach
Gareth@nwlink.com
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