Not Another Teen Movie

Directed by Joel Gallen, Not Another Teen Movie follows Chris Evans’ Jake Wyler as he attempts to transform a dorky fellow student (Chyler Leigh’s Janey Briggs) into cool, popular figure as part of a bet. Filmmaker Gallen, working from Michael G. Bender, Adam Jay Epstein, Andrew Jacobson, Phil Beauman, and Buddy Johnson’s screenplay, does an effective job of sending up the various tropes and clichés of the teen-movie genre, and it’s clear, too, that the movie benefits substantially from its array of impressively charismatic and commanding performances – with Leigh and Evans’ flawless work here matched by an off-kilter supporting cast that includes Jaime Pressly, Mia Kirshner, and Randy Quaid. The movie’s success is, as well, due in no small part to its proliferation of legitimately laugh-out-loud funny jokes and gags, including a hilarious riff on 10 Things I Hate About You wherein Jake attempts to woo Leigh’s character (and causes a small panic) by publicly singing Aerosmith’s “Janie’s Got a Gun,” which undoubtedly goes a long way towards smoothing over the narrative’s few missteps. (The She’s All That-inspired storyline admittedly suffers from many of problems that plagued that entirely misbegotten endeavor.) By the time the feel-good finale rolls around, Not Another Teen Movie has undoubtedly cemented its place as a top-tier spoof that is, for the most part, better than one might’ve anticipated.

*** out of ****