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NOT ANOTHER TEEN MOVIE
Unrated Extended Director's Cut
Review by Michael Jacobson
Stars:
Chyler Leigh, Chris Evans, Jaime Pressly, Mia Kirshner, Eric Christian
Olsen, Deon Richmond, Dennis Quaid
Director: Joel Gallen
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Studio: Sony Pictures
Features: See Review
Length: 100
Minutes
Release Date: July 26, 2005
“I’ll
probably be a little late to pick you guys up.”
“Oh,
why? Do you have a job interview
today, Daddy?”
“No,
honey, I’ll probably just be WAY too drunk.”
A
spoof of teen movies is almost asking too much…after all, it’s a genre that
has seemed to spoof itself for a lot of years now.
I grew up with the John Hughes films, and I still love them, although
they’ve aged more like good curiosity pieces than as movies.
My adulthood has been spent in the backwash of the John Hughes films,
which has been a long, unbroken conveyor belt of teen pictures in which all the
young stars know and reference the John Hughes films.
Not
Another Teen Movie is either the inevitable result of all of that, or a last ditch effort
to make…yes…ANOTHER teen movie, but this time, where the only place left to
go is into complete self-realization and debasement.
In
other words, does it play as the spoof it is, or ironically, just as another
cookie cutter entry in the genre? It
may depend on how many of the teen movies you’ve seen.
Did you watch She’s All That, Pretty in Pink, Cruel Intentions,
Bring it On, Varsity Blues, The Breakfast Club and more?
If you have (and so have I), there’s probably a lot more gold in this
film for you to mine for.
I
laughed during this movie…loud, hard, and often. In fact, maybe more so than during any recent comedy I can
remember. The film has a wired
sense of energy from start to finish, as though the filmmakers were trying to
see how many irreverent gags they could squeeze into a 90 minute film.
Is
that a bad thing? Not
necessarily…but the structure of the movie is non-existent.
It’s not even a clothesline on which to hang jokes…it IS the jokes.
I admitted I laughed, but at the same time, I was aware that NOTHING in
the film gelled at all. Which leads me to the conclusion that it is actually possible
to spoof yourself into almost oblivion.
The
young cast is as good as any other young cast you might remember from your
favorite teen films, and all the clichés are purposefully represented here:
the Pretty Ugly Girl (“DUDE! She’s
got GLASSES! AND a PONY TAIL!”), the Popular Jock, the Nasty
Cheerleader, the Foreign Exchange Student (who never wears a top), the Obsessed
Best Friend, the Token Black Guy (“I’m just supposed to stay out of the
conversation, smile, and say things like ‘damn’, ‘s—t’, and ‘that is
WHACK!’.”, the Stupid Fat Guy, and more.
Right down to the Sensitive Guy, who’s such a perfect copy of Chris
Klein in American Pie that I wonder if likeness rights had to be secured.
When
the movie is funny, it’s dead on. I
loved, for example, the high school football coach (and his very limited
vocabulary), the detention scene (which features a prominent special guest whom
I will not reveal), the obligatory musical number, and the finale (which
features ANOTHER prominent special guest whom I will not reveal…sorry).
When it’s not funny, well…
Put
it this way: a movie like She’s
All That can only be lampooned for so long before you realize that you’re
actually just WATCHING She’s All That all over again.
And much like that movie tried to diffuse its similarities to Pretty
Woman by openly alluding to it, so does Not Another Teen Movie.
You can laugh at the spoof, but it might just nag at you to think
that what you’re laughing at really doesn’t (or can’t) transcend the
material it mimics.
But
as I stated, what the movie sometimes lacks in quality, it tries to make up for
in volume. Didn’t laugh at one
gag? You won’t have to wait very
long for the next one. Also, for
the attentive moviegoer, there are even more laughs to be had.
Look at signs all around the school (“Weird Science”, “Anthony
Michael Dining Hall”) or the school name itself…John Hughes High.
Potentially, this movie probably gives you more chances to laugh for you
dollar than any other.
In
the end, I fall just a little short of flat-out recommending it, though I have
no problem saying that if you do decide to pick this up, you’ll laugh a lot.
It’s an enjoyable, kinetic, and mostly very funny romp that just
doesn’t quite come together fully under the banner it knitted for itself.
I freely admit I’ll watch it again.
Laughing at teen movies is something most of us have been doing for the
past decade, anyway…Not Another Teen Movie happens to be deliriously,
but amusingly, close to overkill.
Video
***
This
is another fine anamorphic transfer from Sony.
The print is generally lively and colorful, with only a tad bit of
occasional softness and imbalance here and there and a bit of slightly
noticeable grain during mid-level lighting shots (very few and far between).
Flesh tones look natural, and detail level is generally very good, with
no grain or compression evident to mar the image.
Audio
***1/2
One
of the real treats of this film is the soundtrack, which contains a multitude of
hard rock remakes of favorite 80s tunes, including “Somebody’s Baby”,
“Don’t You Forget About Me”, “99 Luftballons” and many others…these
rock the 5.1 audio and give the mostly dialogue oriented movie that extra punch.
Other unexpected scenes, like a strange Vietnam flashback, give the disc
an excuse to open up the front and rear stages a little more for discreet
effect. All in all, a pleasant and
dynamic listen.
Features
****
This
is an outstanding features package from Sony!
For starters, there are two terrific commentaries.
The first, by director Joel Gallen and co-writer Michael Bender is
enjoyable and informative. Both
talk extensively about the cast, the script, ideas they felt did or didn’t
work and why, shots conceived that had to be scrapped for time, locations, and
so on. The second is a cast
commentary, which is less informative but more fun…it’s like being at a cast
party. Remember, though, the movie
is rated R…consider the features rated the same way.
For even more information, there is the subtitle feature “teen movie
factoid track”…you should watch the film at least once with it on, because
it points out every homage and every reference, which can help you get the jokes
that you might have otherwise missed.
There
are 18 deleted scenes, 3 behind-the-scenes featurettes (all fairly short, but
entertaining), trailers, meet-the-cast promo spots (very funny), a yearbook
feature that shows photos of the cast in action, behind the scenes and more,
Joel Gallen’s first short film “Car Ride”, a montage of auditions (also
very funny), the unrated version of Marilyn Manson’s “Tainted Love” video,
and finally, a terrific teen movie trivia game.
It’s an interactive game with questions and answers hosted by the cast
and crew. You pick wrong, you get
razzed…very clever, and quite fun.
Summary:
