Not Another Teen Movie film review

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NOT ANOTHER TEEN MOVIE

Janey Briggs (Chyler Leigh) is an aspiring artist who is ostracized by her classmates because she dares to wear glasses and sports a ponytail.

American football jock Jack Wyler (Chris Evans), one of the most popular guys in school, makes a bet with his friends that he can transform Janey into the prom queen.

A supposedly hilarious romp, in a She's All That stylee, ensues, complete with the stereotypical bitchy cheerleader (Jaime Pressly), desperate virgin (Cody McMains), cocksure blond Adonis (Eric Christian Olsen), and token black dude (Deon Richmond).

Meanwhile, Janey's doting best pal, Ricky (Eric Jungmann), who is obsessively in love with her, watches from the sidelines, convinced she will some day be his.

Not Another Teen Movie loosely stitches together a series of skits, each a parody of a famous teen movie scene, and prays the resulting mish mash will hang together. Sadly, it all falls apart very quickly.

The film's original title was Ten Things I Hate About Clueless Road Trips When I Can't Hardly Wait to Be Kissed, which gives some idea of the method behind the inane madness.

Thus, the school weirdo walks round with a video camera, and a plastic bag shadowing his every move (American Beauty). Jack attempts to entice Janey by stripping and covering his privates and nipples with whipped cream (Varsity Blues). And the foxy new foreign exchange student strolls around school in her birthday suit (American Pie).

It's hard to believe that the five scriptwriters couldn't find more than six decent gags to cram into 89 minutes. They choose all the obvious targets, and are incapable of drawing blood with any of their observations. Gross-out humour is very much in evidence, from the opening sex toy gag, to a rather unsavoury set-piece with a female student suffering from diarrhoea.

Not Another Teen Movie is exactly what audiences will be uttering, under their breath, if they have the misfortune to suffer this tripe.