I saw this movie in the Regal South Beach Cinema after work on a Friday. It was the 5:25PM showing. When it was over, I decided to walk around Lincoln Road, which is where the theater is located. For those of you who don't live in Miami, Lincoln Road is sorta like an artsy outdoor mall, a more mellow section of South Beach. Sure, it's trendy, and all the cool people go there, but everyone minds their own business, and no one bothers anybody, so I actually like it there. Anyway, walking around Lincoln Road that night, I suddenly realized that Miami has the most beautiful women on earth. I don't care what anybody says, Miami women are the hottest. Don't believe me? Take a walk through Lincoln Road at night. You may not want to if you're homophobic, though. There ARE a lotta gay people there. But if you're okay with that, than I assure you, you'll see some of the best looking women God has ever created.
And with that, I begin my review.
If you're gonna make a movie that spoofs a particular genre, it has to be REALLY funny. It's gotta be nonstop funny, or the movie comes to a screeching halt. Since a spoof doesn't have to rely on the quality of the story, no effort is put into it. That's fine, as long as it's funny beginning to end. "Scary Movie," Airplane," "Top Secret," and "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka" are perfect examples of movies that are really funny, spoofs that I love. "Not Another Teen Movie" is close, but not quite there. There's a lotta funny stuff in the movie, but not enough.
The opening scene is awesome, it's the female version of the opening scene to another movie. I laughed hysterically during that scene, so "Not Another Teen Movie" was off to a great start. Unfortunately the funny stuff didn't come as often as I woulda liked. The jokes were there, but it wasn't always funny. Part of the problem is that the makers of the film seem to think that simply acknowledging a scene from another movie is funny, but it isn't. You have to take that scene and make fun of it, don't just redo it. The opening scene is a perfect example of what they SHOULD have done throughout the movie. It's a twist on another opening scene, and it works.
One of the things that really DOES work is the way they make fun of the lame clichés that are so common in these movies. They REALLY skewer "The Slow Clapper," which, I believe, is one of the dumbest, lamest, corniest, most irritating cliché in movie history. If "Not Another Teen Movie" does nothing else, I hope it helps filmmakers realize that "The Slow Clapper" needs to be done away with. Another thing they make fun of is the constantly overused character archetypes. In fact, making fun of that is how the movie has been promoted, and I think it's hilarious, as well as accurate.
The cast is filled mostly with new or only vaguely familiar faces, but there are a couple of people I recognize. Also, I gotta tellya, this movie has some real hotties in it (even though none of them are from Miami). Jaime Pressly plays "The Bitchy Cheerleader" (though they interchange "bitchy" with "nasty"). You've probably seen her before, she's been in Maxim magazine a lot. Also, she starred in the third "Poison Ivy" movie, and she was in the TV show, "Jack & Jill." She's very hot, and surprisingly good in this movie. She's way over the top, but she's supposed to be. Chyler Leigh plays "The Pretty Ugly Girl," spoofing Rachael Leigh Cook's character in "She's All That." Chyler Leigh has done a lotta TV, but the only thing she's ever been in that I've heard of is "7th Heaven." She's absolutely beautiful, but if you wanna see her at her best, check out the Marilyn Manson video "Tainted Love" (that song is in the soundtrack to this movie, a great soundtrack, by the way). Lacey Chabert plays "The Perfect Girl." She spoofs Jennifer Love Hewitt's character in the movie "Can't Hardly Wait," which is pretty interesting since Lacey Chabert was in the TV show "Party of Five" with Hewitt. Okay, maybe it's not THAT interesting, but whatever. Cerina Vincent, a very sexy chickie I've never seen before, plays "The Foreign Exchange Student," and I LOVE how her character is used. They show a lot of her, and it's very nice. Then there's my favorite, Mia Kirshner, who plays "The Cruelest Girl." She's probably too old to be in this movie, but they actually touch on that. She was in an excellent movie called, "Exotica," but she was also in the horrible movie, "The Crow: City of Angels." She now makes occasional appearances in the great, though low-rated TV show, "24."
As for the guys, there's Chris Evans, "The Popular Jock." This is his feature film debut, and he's very good. Also, the guy looks and sounds just like Alec Baldwin. Deon Richmond is "The Token Black Guy." He was in "Trippin'" and "Scream 3." Eric Jungmann is "The Obsessed Best Friend" and Ron Lester is "The Stupid Fat Guy." Both were in "Varsity Blues." Eric Christian Olsen plays "The Cocky Blonde Guy," and he was recently in a "Smallville" episode as one of the bad guys. He was the one who was an old man who would be young again when he would go into the pond filled with Kryptonite. And Randy Quaid plays "The Unemployed Father" to "The Pretty Ugly Girl," unintentionally playing a similar character to the one he played in "National Lampoon's Vacation."
I like the cast in this movie. They give it their all, and they all do a great job. This isn't the kinda movie where the acting chops truly get tested, but I still think they were all really good. Oh, there are a few really good cameos in this movie, so keep your eyes open for those.
"Not Another Teen Movie" has quite a few writers. It was written by Mike Bender (writer for MTV award shows, skits, and clips) & Adam Jay Epstein (his debut) & Andrew Jacobson (his debut) and Phil Beauman & Buddy Johnson (both helped write "Scary Movie"). As for the director, it was Joel Gallen. This is Gallen's feature film debut, but he's directed and produced lotsa TV stuff, especially for MTV, where he worked on a lotta the award shows. Also, he was chosen by the four major networks to produce the "America - A Tribute to Heroes" telethon. For those of you who live under a rock, that was a 2-hour commercial-free program that aired on just about every network a couple of weeks after the horrific September 11th tragedy. It raised nearly $200 million for the families of victims of September 11th. For that, I have the utmost respect for him. By the way, you can still give by buying the CD and/or DVD of the telethon. All the money goes to the September 11th charity.
Though it's very perceptive and insightful, "Not Another Teen Movie" could have been much better. Still, the parts that are funny are REALLY funny, and the performances are very good. Oh yeah, and the chicks are really hot.
Scale of 1-10: 6