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 Chyler Leigh, Chris Evans, 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 Sony Pictures Releasing under its Columbia Pictures label, the film is a parody of teen films released during the 1980s and 90s. The general plot is primarily derived from She's All That, as well as 10 Things I Hate About You, Can't Hardly Wait, Pretty in Pink, and Varsity Blues. It is also filled with allusions to other films featuring teen and college-aged characters, such as American Beauty, American Pie, Bring It On, Can't Buy Me Love, Cruel Intentions, Dazed and Confused, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Grease, Jawbreaker, Lucas, Never Been Kissed, Risky Business, Road Trip, Rudy, and Sixteen Candles, while Paul Gleason reprises his role as Vice Principal Vernon from The Breakfast Club.
Not Another Teen Movie received generally negative reviews from critics and grossed $66.5 million on a $15 million budget.
Plot In the stereotypical high school community of John Hughes High in Southern California, Priscilla, head cheerleader, separates from her football star/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 nerdy Janey Briggs into the prom queen. Janey is not insecure enough to feel any need to change herself, nor does she feel anything for him at first, but that does not stop him from trying.
As Jake attempts to court Janey, he 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 assists him by "drastically" altering Janey's appearance (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. Mitch tries to impress his longtime crush, Amanda Becker, with a love letter.
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 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 sexually. 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), Bruce hooks up with naked foreign exchange student Areola, and Ox hooks up with Catherine.
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 when conjoined twins Kara and Sara Fratelli win prom queen. During the 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 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 punches Austin and Priscilla, knocking them unconscious for humiliating Janey. He then punches Les for "being really weird"; afterwards, he runs to Janey's, only to be told she is on her way to art school in Paris.
Jake confronts her before she boards the plane, but uses a plethora of clichéd lines from other films to convince her not to 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 +Cast of Not Another Teen Movie Actor Character Stereotype Based on Chyler Leigh Janey Briggs "The Pretty Ugly Girl" Laney Boggs (Rachael Leigh Cook) from She's All ThatKaterina Stratford (Julia Stiles) from 10 Things I Hate About YouAndie Walsh (Molly Ringwald) from Pretty in Pink Chris Evans Jake Wyler "The Popular Jock" Zack Siler (Freddie Prinze Jr.) from She's All That Jake Ryan (Michael Schoeffling) from Sixteen CandlesJonathan Moxon (James Van Der Beek) from Varsity BluesCappie Roew (Charlie Sheen) from LucasPatrick Verona (Heath Ledger) from 10 Things I Hate About You Jaime Pressly Priscilla "The Nasty Cheerleader" Taylor Vaughan (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) from She's All ThatBig Red (Lindsay Sloane) and Torrance (Kirsten Dunst) from Bring It OnAngela Hayes (Mena Suvari) from American Beauty Eric Christian Olsen Austin "The Cocky Blond Guy" Dean Sampson Jr. (Paul Walker) from She's All ThatSteff McKee (James Spader) from Pretty in Pink Mia Kirshner Catherine Wyler "The Cruelest Girl" Kathryn Merteuil (Sarah Michelle Gellar) from Cruel IntentionsMackenzie Siler (Anna Paquin) from She's All That Deon Richmond Malik Token "The Token Black Guy" Preston (Dulé Hill) from She's All ThatEric Jungmann Ricky Lipman "The Obsessed Best Friend" Duckie Dale (Jon Cryer) from Pretty in PinkJesse Jackson (Elden Henson) from She's All That 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 PiePreston Meyers (Ethan Embry) from Can't Hardly WaitSimon Boggs (Kieran Culkin) from She's All ThatBrian Johnson (Anthony Michael Hall) and John Bender (Judd Nelson) from The Breakfast Club Sam Huntington Ox "The Sensitive Guy" Oz (Chris Klein) from American PieAndrew Clark (Emilio Estevez) from The Breakfast Club Samm Levine Bruce "The Wannabe" Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) from The Karate KidJim Levenstein (Jason Biggs) from American PieKenny 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 Heather Brown Dodge Dainty Girl "Peeping Tom Scene Gone Bad" Beulah Balbricker (Nancy Parsons) from Porky's Cerina Vincent Areola "The Foreign Exchange Student" and "Nudist" Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth) from American Pie Riley Smith Les "The Beautiful Weirdo" Ricky Fitts (Wes Bentley) from American Beauty Ean Mering Marty "The Wimpy Football Player" Lucas Blye (Corey Haim) from LucasRudy Ruettiger (Sean Astin) from Rudy Julie Welch Beverly Wyler N/A Samaire Armstrong Kara Fratelli Nectar Rose Sara Fratelli Ed Lauter The Coach "Win-at-all-cost Jerk Coach" Coach Bud Kilmer (Jon Voight) from Varsity Blues Coach Willis (Robert Patrick) from The Faculty Randy Quaid Mr. Briggs "Dead Beat Alcoholic Father" Russel Casse (Quaid) from Independence DayWayne Boggs (Kevin Pollak) from She's All ThatJack 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 "The Undercover Journalist" Josie Geller (Drew Barrymore) from Never Been KissedCameron Crowe's undercover journalism working on Fast Times at Ridgemont High Rob Benedict Preston Wasserstein N/A Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) from Ferris Bueller's Day OffJoel Goodson (Tom Cruise) from Risky Business Patrick St. Esprit Austin's father N/A Josh Radnor Tour Guide Michael Eckman (David Krumholtz) from 10 Things I Hate About YouBarry Manilow (Tom Green) from Road Trip Paul Goebel "The Chef Who Ejaculated Into Mitch's French Toast" French Toast Guy (Horatio Sanz) from Road Trip George Wyner Principal Cornish "The Principal" N/A Jon Benjamin Trainer N/A
Many stars of teen films, as well as those from the 1980s, make credited and uncredited appearances. These include: Molly Ringwald as "The Rude, Hot Flight Attendant"; Ringwald starred in many '80s teen films, most significantly Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club. Mr. T as "The Wise Janitor", a parody of Charles S. Dutton's character from Rudy; The A-Teams opening sequence music is playing at the end of his speech. Kyle Cease as "The Slow Clap Guy"; Cease himself played Bogey Lowenstein in 10 Things I Hate About You. Melissa Joan Hart (uncredited) as "Slow Clapper's Instructor"; Hart can also be seen in Can't Hardly Wait and Drive Me Crazy. The commentator at the football game praises Hart and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Lyman Ward as Mr. Wyler, representing the "Out-of-touch Father" best represented by Noah Levenstein (Eugene Levy) in American Pie; Ward played Ferris Bueller's father in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Paul Gleason as Richard "Dick" Vernon; Gleason reprises his role as Vernon from The Breakfast Club. Sean Patrick Thomas as "The Other Token Black Guy"; Thomas appeared in Can't Hardly Wait, Cruel Intentions and Save the Last Dance. Good Charlotte as the band playing at the prom.
Parodies
Grease (1978) Airplane! (1980) My Bodyguard (1980) Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) Porky's (1981) Risky Business (1983) The Karate Kid (1984) Repo Man (1984) Sixteen Candles (1984) Better Off Dead (1985) The Breakfast Club (1985) Just One of the Guys (1985) Vision Quest (1985) Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) Lucas (1986) Pretty in Pink (1986) Can't Buy Me Love (1987) Three O'Clock High (1987) License to Drive (1988) Heathers (1988) The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) Dazed and Confused (1993) Rudy (1993) Clueless (1995) Independence Day (1996) Can't Hardly Wait (1998) The Faculty (1998) Pleasantville (1998) 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) American Beauty (1999) American Pie (1999) Cruel Intentions (1999) Detroit Rock City (1999) Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999) Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999) Election (1999) Jawbreaker (1999) Never Been Kissed (1999) She's All That (1999) Superstar (1999) Varsity Blues (1999) Almost Famous (2000) Bring It On (2000) Dude, Where's My Car? (2000) Road Trip (2000) Unbreakable (2000) Save the Last Dance (2001) Summer Catch (2001)
Music
The film's score is composed by Theodore Shapiro and consists largely of contemporary covers of 1980s pop and new wave hits. 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. A cover of a-ha's "Take On Me" by the band Lifer was recorded but went unreleased.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:
A karaoke version of the ending to "Can't Fight this Feeling" by REO Speedwagon is used each time Amanda Becker enters a scene.