'Teen Movie' becomes what it's trying to spoof '

You know a movie genre's in trouble when the spoof arrives. Just as "Scary Movie" signified our weariness of the teen slasher, "Not Another Teen Movie" wants to mark the downturn of gross-out comedies (save for "American Pie 2"), high school romances and anything starring Freddie Prinze Jr.

MOVIE REVIEW

NOT ANOTHER TEEN MOVIE

DIRECTOR: Joel Gallen

CAST: Chris Evans, Chyler Leigh, Mia Kirshner,

Jaime Pressly, Eric Christian Olsen, Cody McMains and Randy Quaid

RUNNING TIME: 88 minutes

RATING: R for strong crude sexual content and humor, language and some drug content

WHERE: Bella Bottega, Cinema 17, East Valley, Everett 9, Factoria, Galleria 11, Grand Cinemas, Issaquah 9, Longston 14, Metro, Mountlake 9, Pacific Place, Parkway Plaza, SeaTac North, Woodinville 12.

GRADE: D+

So here we are at John Hughes High School (named for the '80s teen-flick auteur), where Jake Wyler (Chris Evans), the "Popular Jock," bets he can turn "Pretty Ugly Girl" Janey Briggs (Chyler Leigh) into a prom queen. Meanwhile, his "Nasty Cheerleader" ex-girlfriend (Jaime Pressly) is ripping off routines from the neighboring black squad and his "Cruelest Girl in School" sister Catherine (Mia Kirshner) wants to sleep with him. A football game and some kids who want to lose their virginity also figure into the picture.

While "She's All That" and "Varsity Blues" are at the movie's core, there are references to "10 Things I Hate About You," "Can't Hardly Wait," "Cruel Intentions," "American Pie," "Never Been Kissed" and "Bring It On," among others. It also makes jabs at "Almost Famous," "Sixteen Candles," "American Beauty" and "Risky Business," which may be lost to the MTV crowd. And will they get that Janey's lovelorn best friend (Eric Jungmann) is channeling Duckie from "Pretty in Pink"?

It's obvious that "Not Another Teen Movie," helmed by Joel Gallen (he directed many funny spoofs for the MTV Movie Awards) wanted its own twist: Let's always tell people that we're in a spoof. Let's have a Token Black Guy (Deon Richmond) explaining how his purpose in a scene is to say "Damn!" and "That is wack!" Let's put former kid star Lacey Chabert in Jennifer Love Hewitt's "Can't Hardly Wait" role (the two co-starred on "Party of Five"). Let's cast people who are refugees from the original films ("Varsity Blues'" heavyweight Ron Lester spoofs his character). Let's re-create a whole scene from "The Breakfast Club" -- complete with Paul Gleason reprising his role as the principal -- for no real reason.

Despite all its potential, this spoof's downfall is its self-conscious effort to throw in heaps of breasts, poop and bodily fluids (all tastelessly) as insurance. That way, if the actual parodies aren't funny, you'll at least shriek at how much spit is swapped during the "Cruel Intentions" girl-girl kiss spoof.

By the time a member of teen-movie royalty makes a cameo in the film's finale, "Not Another Teen Movie" has long exhausted any hope of succeeding. Instead it becomes, well, just another teen movie.