Not Another Teen Movie

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Not Another Teen Movie
Not Another Teen Movie poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJoel Gallen
Written by
  • Michael G. Bender
  • Adam Jay Epstein
  • Andrew Jacobson
  • Phil Beauman
  • Buddy Johnson
Produced byNeal H. Moritz
Starring
CinematographyReynaldo Villalobos
Edited bySteven Welch
Music byTheodore Shapiro
Production
companies
Distributed bySony Pictures Releasing
Release date
  • December 14, 2001 (2001-12-14)
Running time
89 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$15 million[2]
Box office$66.5 million[2]

Not Another Teen Movie is a 2001 American teen parody film directed by Joel Gallen and written by Mike Bender, Adam Jay Epstein, Andrew Jacobson, Phil Beauman, and Buddy Johnson. It features an ensemble cast including Chyler Leigh, Chris Evans (in his film debut), Jaime Pressly, Eric Christian Olsen, Eric Jungmann, Mia Kirshner, Deon Richmond, Cody McMains, Sam Huntington, Samm Levine, Cerina Vincent, Ron Lester, Randy Quaid, Lacey Chabert, Riley Smith and Samaire Armstrong.

Released on December 14, 2001, by Columbia Pictures, the film is a parody of teen films. While the general plot is based on She's All That,[3] as well as Varsity Blues,[4] 10 Things I Hate About You,[3] Can't Hardly Wait[3] and Pretty in Pink, the film is also filled with allusions to teenage and college-age films from the 1980s and 1990s, such as Bring It On, American Pie, Cruel Intentions,[5] American Beauty,[4] Never Been Kissed, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Can't Buy Me Love, Jawbreaker, Sixteen Candles, Dazed and Confused, Lucas, Rudy, The Breakfast Club, Grease, and Road Trip.

Plot[]

In the stereotypical high school community of John Hughes High in Southern California, Priscilla, head cheerleader, separates from her football star but slacker boyfriend, Jake Wyler. Discovering she is now dating timid and weird Les to spite him, one of Jake's friends, Austin, makes a bet with him to turn Janey Briggs, a "uniquely rebellious girl," into the prom queen.

Jake attempts to court Janey, but faces adversity from his own sister, Catherine, who is sexually attracted to him; Janey's unnoticed admirer and best friend, Ricky Lipman; and memories from his past football career. Catherine eventually assists him by "drastically" altering Janey's appearance (simply removing her glasses and ponytail), instantly making her drop-dead gorgeous.

Meanwhile, Janey's younger brother, Mitch, and his friends Ox and Bruce, make a pact to lose their virginity by graduation despite still being freshmen. Mitch tries to impress his longtime crush, Amanda Becker with a love letter. Bruce says that he does not have a chance with her, saying, "Keep dreaming!"

As the prom draws near, Jake becomes known for failing to lead the football team to victory at last year's state championship game. Austin then tricks Jake into telling Janey about his bet to spite Priscilla, pretending to whisper the secret bet in Janey's ear, causing her to immediately leave upset. On prom night, Austin and Janey go together; a jealous Jake and Catherine have a dance-off with Austin and Janey, with Catherine dancing in a sexual manner. Janey runs off crying.

Meanwhile, Mitch and his friends are having a lousy time until Amanda arrives and Mitch gives her the letter (to which she responds she does not have sex with every loser who does such, but gives them handjobs), horny Bruce hooks up with the equally horny international exchange student Areola, and Ox later hooks up with Catherine after sharing a romantic and rather odd connection.

Jake is awarded prom king and the votes for prom queen are tied. Everyone thinks that it is between Janey and Priscilla, but they are shocked to find that conjoined twins Kara and Sara Fratelli win prom queen. During the traditional prom king and queen dance, Janey supposedly left with Austin to go to a hotel.

Jake goes to the hotel room where he finds Austin having wild sex with a girl, but is shocked to find that it is Priscilla and not Janey, while Les videotapes them with his pants down. Austin tells Jake that Janey "ran home to her daddy." Jake coldly punches Austin and Priscilla, knocking them unconscious for humiliating Janey. He then punches Les for "being really weird" (and punches a plastic bag floating next to Les); afterwards he runs to Janey's only be told she is on her way to Paris to art school.

Jake arrives at the airport and confronts her before she boards the plane, but uses a plethora of clichéd lines from other films (such as She's All That, Cruel Intentions, American Pie, The Breakfast Club, American Beauty, 10 Things I Hate About You, Can't Hardly Wait, and Pretty in Pink) to convince her to not go. His final (and only original) speech suggests they would be better off separated, but Janey mistakenly believes he is quoting The Karate Kid, and she decides to stay with him.

In a mid-credits scene, Janey's father Mr. Briggs drunkenly assaults himself with pies in his kitchen. In a post-credits scene, a previously seen albino folk singer, an afroed student with a guitar, reveals that she has become blind and calls out for assistance upon completing her song, while an audience member calls for another to assist in stealing her guitar.

Cast[]

Actor Character Stereotype Based on
Chyler Leigh Janey Briggs "The Pretty Ugly Girl" Laney Boggs (Rachael Leigh Cook) from She's All That
Katerina Stratford (Julia Stiles) from 10 Things I Hate About You
Andie Walsh (Molly Ringwald) from Pretty in Pink
Chris Evans Jake Wyler "The Popular Jock" Zack Siler (Freddie Prinze Jr.) from She's All That
Jonathan Moxon (James Van Der Beek) from Varsity Blues
Jaime Pressly Priscilla "The Nasty Cheerleader" Taylor Vaughan (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) from She's All That
Big Red (Lindsay Sloane) and Torrance (Kirsten Dunst) from Bring It On
Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari) from American Beauty
Eric Christian Olsen Austin "The Cocky Blond Guy" Dean Sampson, Jr. (Paul Walker) from She's All That
Steff McKee (James Spader) from Pretty in Pink
Mia Kirshner Catherine Wyler "The Cruelest Girl" Kathryn Merteuil (Sarah Michelle Gellar) from Cruel Intentions
Mackenzie Siler (Anna Paquin) from She's All That
Deon Richmond Malik Token "The Token Black Guy" Preston (Dulé Hill) from She's All That
Eric Jungmann Ricky Lipman "The Obsessed Best Friend" Duckie Dale (Jon Cryer) from Pretty in Pink
Ron Lester Reggie Ray "The Stupid Fat Guy" Billy Bob (Lester) from Varsity Blues
Cody McMains Mitch Briggs "The Desperate Virgin" Kevin Myers (Thomas Ian Nicholas) from American Pie
Preston Meyers (Ethan Embry) from Can't Hardly Wait
Simon Boggs (Kieran Culkin) from She's All That
John Bender (Judd Nelson) from The Breakfast Club
Sam Huntington Ox "The Sensitive Guy" Oz (Chris Klein) from American Pie
Andrew Clark (Emilio Estevez) from The Breakfast Club
Samm Levine Bruce "The Wannabe" Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) from The Karate Kid
Jim Levenstein (Jason Biggs) from American Pie
Kenny Fisher (Seth Green) from Can't Hardly Wait
Lacey Chabert Amanda Becker "The Perfect Girl" Amanda Beckett (Jennifer Love Hewitt) from Can't Hardly Wait
Cerina Vincent Areola "The Foreign Exchange Student" Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth) from American Pie
Riley Smith Les "The Beautiful Weirdo" Ricky Fitts (Wes Bentley) from American Beauty
Julie Welch Mrs. Wyler N/A N/A
Samaire Armstrong Kara Fratelli N/A Surname "Fratelli" from The Goonies
Nectar Rose Sara Fratelli N/A Surname "Fratelli" from The Goonies
Ed Lauter The Coach N/A Coach Bud Kilmer (Jon Voight) from Varsity Blues
Randy Quaid Mr. Briggs N/A Wayne Boggs (Kevin Pollak) from She's All That
Jack Walsh (Harry Dean Stanton) from Pretty in Pink
Joanna Garcia Sandy Sue "The New Girl in School" Sandy Olsson (Olivia Newton-John) from Grease
Beverly Polcyn Sadie Agatha Johnson N/A Josie Geller (Drew Barrymore) from Never Been Kissed
Rob Benedict Preston Wasserstein N/A Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) from Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Patrick St. Esprit Austin's father N/A N/A
Josh Radnor Tour Guide N/A Michael Eckman (David Krumholtz) from 10 Things I Hate About You
Paul Goebel The Chef Who Ejaculated Into Mitch's French Toast N/A N/A
George Wyner Principal Cornish N/A N/A
Jon Benjamin Trainer N/A N/A
Cameos

Many stars of teen films, as well as those from the 1980s, make credited and uncredited appearances. These include:

Parodies[]

Music[]

The film's score is composed by Theodore Shapiro and consists largely of contemporary covers of 1980s pop and new wave. The musical number, "Prom Tonight", written by Ben Folds, Michael G. Bender, Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson, is a parody of Grease. The song was never released commercially.

A soundtrack was released by Maverick Records on December 4, 2001.[6] A cover of a-ha's "Take On Me" by the band Lifer was recorded but went unreleased.[7]

Not Another Teen Movie: Music from the Motion Picture
Soundtrack album by
Various artists
ReleasedDecember 4, 2001
GenreRock, punk rock, heavy metal
Length41:59
LabelMaverick
Producervarious artists
Singles from Not Another Teen Movie: Music from the Motion Picture
  1. "Tainted Love"
    Released: November 2001
No.TitleWriter(s)ArtistLength
1."Tainted Love" (originally by Gloria Jones)Ed CobbMarilyn Manson3:21
2."Never Let Me Down Again" (originally by Depeche Mode)Martin GoreThe Smashing Pumpkins4:00
3."Blue Monday" (originally by New Order)Gillian Gilbert, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, Bernard SumnerOrgy4:26
4."The Metro" (originally by Berlin)John CrawfordSystem of a Down2:59
5."But Not Tonight" (originally by Depeche Mode)Martin GoreScott Weiland4:50
6."Message of Love" (originally by The Pretenders)Chrissie HyndeSaliva3:48
7."Bizarre Love Triangle" (originally by New Order)Gillian Gilbert, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, Bernard SumnerStabbing Westward3:43
8."99 Red Balloons" (originally by Nena)Jörn-Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, Kevin McAleaGoldfinger3:50
9."I Melt with You" (originally by Modern English)Robbie Grey, Gary McDowell, Richard Brown, Michael Conroy, Stephen WalkerMest3:19
10."If You Leave" (originally by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark)Andy McCluskey, Paul Humphreys, Martin CooperGood Charlotte2:45
11."Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want" (originally by The Smiths)Steven Morrissey, Johnny MarrMuse1:58
12."Somebody's Baby" (originally by Jackson Browne)Jackson Browne, Danny KortchmarPhantom Planet2:52

Release[]

Not Another Teen Movie opened theatrically on December 14, 2001. It was released on region 1 DVD on April 30, 2002, with an "unrated extended version" on July 26, 2005. This cut runs ten minutes longer than the original, and adds a number of deleted, alternate and extended scenes.[8] The theatrical cut was available on Netflix in 2020 and is now on HBO Max.

Box office[]

The film opened at third place at the US box office taking $12,615,116 in its opening weekend. It grossed $38,252,284 domestically and $28,216,048 internationally, for a worldwide total of $66,468,332.[2]

Critical response[]

The film received generally negative reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 28% based on 96 reviews, with an average rating of 4/10. The site's consensus states: "NATM has some funny moments, but the movie requires the audience to have familiarity with the movies being spoofed and a tolerance for toilet and sexual humor to be truly effective."[9] Metacritic gave the film a score of 32/100 based on reviews from 22 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[10]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film two stars out of a possible four, and admitted to laughing a few times but not as much as he did for American Pie or Scary Movie. Ebert also criticized the scatological humor. He urged audiences to not waste their time on the film, when in the month of December 2001 there were "21 other promising films" to choose from.[11]

Robin Rauzi of the Los Angeles Times called it "a 90-minute exercise in redefining the word 'gratuitous'" and suggested it is most likely to appeal to fourteen-year-olds – "who of course [are] not supposed to be seeing this R-rated movie".[5] Dennis Harvey of Variety criticized the film for its "overall tendency to mistake mere bad taste for outrageousness, and plain referentiality for satire" but praised Evans, Pressly, and Olsen for giving performances better than the material. He noted that the film follows the model of Scary Movie but lacked the comic finesse of Anna Faris.[4]

Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle called the film "a crass act" and pointed out the futility of trying to parody films that are already absurd. LaSalle complained that the film too closely copies She's All That, calling it "pathetic" that Not Another Teen Movie is just another formulaic teen movie.[3]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "NOT ANOTHER TEEN MOVIE (15)". British Board of Film Classification. January 3, 2002. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Not Another Teen Movie". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 7, 2010.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Mick LaSalle (December 14, 2001). "A crass act. Gross-out teen flick imagines it's a parody". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on August 17, 2002.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Dennis Harvey (December 13, 2001). "Not Another Teen Movie". Variety.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Robin Rauzi (December 14, 2001). "'Not Another Teen Movie' Just Multiplies the Raunch". Los Angeles Times.
  6. ^ "Not Another Teen Movie – Original Soundtrack". AllMusic.
  7. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoH0XiPwJBQ&t=510s
  8. ^ "Not another Teen Movie (Comparison: Theatrical Cut and Unrated Director's Cut)". movie-censorship.com. May 27, 2008.
  9. ^ "Not Another Teen Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
  10. ^ "Not Another Teen Movie". Metacritic. Retrieved December 19, 2010.
  11. ^ Roger Ebert (December 14, 2001). "Not Another Teen Movie". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved April 20, 2020.

External links[]

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