The Quarantine Stream: ‘Not Another Teen Movie’ Perfectly And Stupidly Spoofs High School Clichés
By Ethan Anderton/May 15, 2020 7:00 am EST
The core of Not Another Teen Movie takes aim at She’s All That as the story mostly follows football jock Jake Wyler as he makes a bet with his douchebag friends to turn the quirky paint-covered, oversalls-clad, glasses-wearing girl Janey into prom queen. Meanwhile, there’s also a trio of horny teens trying everything they can to get laid at all costs, a friend-zoned hipster who desperately wants to date Janey, Jake’s testy cheerleader ex-girlfriend and her cheerleading squad, and of course, that one token black guy thrown in with a bunch of white kids.
Much like the aforementioned brilliant spoofs, one of the things that makes Not Another Teen Movie funny are the additional jokes in the background of scenes. Keep your eyes peeled for gags like Preston’s Party being part of the school’s schedule on their outdoor marquee, a sign for the “Get Baked Sale” happening on school grounds, or the school cafeteria being named the Anthony Michael Dining Hall.
But what really makes the movie work best is the presence of a solid comedic cast, the most surprising of which being Chris Evans as the smarmy but dreamy jock Jake Wyler. If you’ve only known Chris Evans’ work since he became Human Torch in Fantastic Four or Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you’re in for quite the surprise when you see how much Evans hams it up, especially when he spoofs a particularly erotic scene from Varsity Blues involving a conveniently placed banana split.
Other recognizable names include Jamie Pressley (My Name Is Earl), Mia Kirshner (Star Trek: Discovery), Sam Huntington (Fanboys), Eric Christian Olsen (NCIS: Los Angeles), Lacey Chabert (Mean Girls), and the late Ron Lester parodying himself from Varsity Blues. Plus, you’ll want to keep an eye out for brief appearances by Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother) and H. Jon Benjamin (Bob’s Burgers), as well as cheeky cameos by real teen movie stars Sean Patrick Thomas (Save the Last Dance), Melissa Joan Hart (Drive Me Crazy), Molly Ringwald (Sixteen Candles) and Paul Gleason (The Breakfast Club). Plus, National Lampoon’s Vacation franchise regular Randy Quaid steals some scenes as Janey’s perpetually drunk father in a role that hits a little too close to the real Randy Quaid we know today.
Not Another Teen Movie deserves to be recognized outside of the spoof drivel that dominated the genre throughout the 2000s. It stands out in that decade with the likes of Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Team America: World Police, and the Austin Powers franchise as the right way to spoof an entire genre of popular movies with easily recognizable tropes without always going for the easy laugh. Enjoy some big laughs courtesy of playful jabs at some of your favorite high school nostalgia trips.
