Teen comedy mostly hits

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, July 27, 2006

If only all high school kids were as organized as the vengeful cabal in “John Tucker Must Die,” the future would be in secure hands. Or maybe the future would be in a thong.

The idea here is that three girls at Kodiak High discover they are all dating the same Big Man on Campus, basketball star John Tucker (Jesse Metcalfe). Instead of accepting the situation, they decide to take revenge.

However, a series of ritual humiliations fails to dim John Tucker’s glow. He’s the Teflon B.M.O.C., turning each setback into a new triumph. (One of them involves making a thong into a fashion statement.)

Finally, the trio decides to set up a new girl, Kate (Brittany Snow) as a possible love interest for Tucker. She will make him fall in love with her, and then she’ll dump him. Payback is a you-know-what.

This movie is brightened by the casting of some fresh faces: Snow (a star of the TV series “American Dreams”) is just right as the heroine, who of course is susceptible to John Tucker’s charms, and Penn Badgley is likable as Tucker’s younger brother.

The three connivers are fun, with special notice to Arielle Kebbel, who looks like a can’t-miss future star. Sophia Bush (“One Tree Hill”) is very appealing as a “vegan teen activist,” and singer Ashanti is a princess-y cheerleader.

This film wants to get in the same ballpark as “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and “Clueless,” and at times it come near, but it’s a little too sloppy (and the premise a little too forced) for that. More like “Heathers” lite.

It tosses in breezy jokes that suggest somebody is paying attention (look for a wordless bit about a bra found in a back seat), but they don’t add up. And for this kind of movie, it’s unusual for having virtually no adult characters – unless you count Kate’s mom, played by Jenny McCarthy, and I’m not sure casting Jenny McCarthy as a mom counts as an adult character.

The script by Jeff Lowell is at its best when introducing us to Kate’s world, with some funny opening narration. The director is Betty Thomas (“The Brady Bunch Movie”), who deserves credit for opening up the actors into such an agreeable mode.

It’s easy to assume that the fluid ensemble acting of the girls has something to do with a woman director, since you feel like you’re sitting in on a slumber party at times. The party atmosphere is the best thing about it; now if we could only ditch the plot.

Arielle Kebbel and Jesse Metcalfe are oblivious to waitress Brittany Snow in “John Tucker Must Die.”