Not Another Teen Movie

🎥 Summary

The storyline forgoes imagination as Not Another Teen Movie places every teen stereotype in one place – John Hughes High School, which has the jock, cheer captain, bad boy, mean girl, ‘diverse’ student, sexy exchange student and many more. And let’s not forget the “ugly” girl who is, in fact, beautiful.

The school’s golden boy, Jake Wyler (Chris Evans), gets dumped by his cheerleader girlfriend, and consequently accepts a cruel bet to makeover the “artsy girl with paint on her overalls” Janey Briggs (Chyler Leigh) into a prom queen. What ensues is a parody of just about every teenage film from the 90s and 2000s including but not limited to: She’s All That, 10 Things I Hate About You, American Pie, Cruel Intentions, The Breakfast Club and Varsity Blues.

Alongside the chaotic prom night stereotypes with some commentary on the culture surrounding teen films, comes the film’s real romance: the slow burn ‘fake it till you make it’ love story that develops between Janey and Jake.

🌟 Lead Performances

Jake Wyler is one of many characters in the film played by Chris Evans. In what is best described as a “thematic” performance, Evans does a commendable job of poking fun at the cliche brooding jock dating stereotype that is prevalent in coming of age movies. Of course, he was most famous for his outrageous whipped cream scene.

Chyler Leigh as Janey Briggs – With her unique delivery and chemistry with Evans, she serves as the striking calm in the eye of the hurricane.

Pressly turned into Priscilla – Pressly is wonderfully vicious as the most cruel ex of them all.

Eric Christian Olsen, Mia Kirshner, and Deon Richmond – All portray their stereotypes to the fullest such as the best friend who is excessively obsessed, the sultry seductress and the lone Black character whose only purpose is to exclaim, “Damn!” or “That’s whack!”

🖋️ Themes and Tone

Not Another Teen Movie is guilty of satirizing:

Clichés and overused elements – Not a single cliché is spared from the makeover montages to the slow clap.

Teen Sexual Awkwardness – Jokes taken to absurd extents such as musical numbers and NSFW gags.

In rom-coms, The male gaze – Deliberate exaggeration to highlight how silly and creepy it is most of the time.

Diversity and tokenism – Attempted—sometimes too strongly, but still pointed commentary on the genre’s casting practices.

What’s the tone? Absurd. Blasphemous. Irreverent satire taken to its limits. If there was a sacred cow, well, it’s on the barbecue now.

🎞️ Style and Cinematography

As with other films directed by Joel Gallen, Step Brothers takes a ‘high-key’ polish to its cinematography, encoding it in exactly the same way the teen movies it parodies do. The lighting remains bright, the pacing is relentless, and the camera work is classically straightforward— encapsulating the very thing it aims to deconstruct.

Set pieces like replicated as close as possible to famous film set pieces such as The Breakfast Club’s library, while the soundtrack features nostalgic and ironic renditions of classical high school romance film prom songs.

🔥 Reception

Not Another Teen Movie Split between critics and average viewers, still managing to resonate with audiences.

critics had mixed feedback: “there are some jokes that do not land but the movie definitely shows care in parodying rather than being spiteful.”

Fans of the genre welcomed it as a cult classic for the most part, not only because they felt the movie gave a fresh perspective, but more so for the film’s satirical undertones and overwhelming dedication to the cause.

The film has since gained affectionate recognition as one of the most intelligently mindless genre spoofs from the early 2000s.

⭐ Critical Highlights

Praise for:

Chris Evans’ unexpected mastery of comedy and the nearly limitless references packed into a 90-minute film.

The extreme limit pushing of jokes for the sake of being made.

Criticism for:

Taking certain jabs that many deem satirical but others find crossing the line into mock vulgarity.

A handpicked strategy which from time to time splatters the narrative with jokes.

Despite everything, the film as a whole remains as a commedy that does not shy away from its portrayal of the 2000’s teen flicks, and does not feel the need to seek for forgiveness.

📝 Final thoughts

The film is compeltely bonkers, yet it is both inspiring and paralazing for fans of the adolescent film archetype. It ridiculs brings everything and anything, keeps nothing virtuous or beloved, and challenges the audience to laugh in the face of contrived adolescent cliches that they once found appealing.