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The new teen comedy Love Don't Cost a Thing starts off as I expected--badly. An irritating hip hop song segues into an embarrassing Michael Jackson-like dance routine which leads to a fantasy sequence and its predictable resolution. Then we find out that one of our main characters has been dumped by her boyfriend. It's altogether a clumsy piece of exposition and doesn't bode well for the rest of the movie. Bad beginnings don't always lead to bad endings, though, as Love shows in a surprisingly pleasant film.

Nick Cannon has apparently become a huge star on Nickelodeon, following in the footsteps of Kenan Thompson, Kel Mitchell, and Amanda Bynes. He broke out in movies last year with the success of Drumline. This time around he plays Alvin Mitchell, a geeky high school senior who spends more time designing his own car than making designs on a possible prom date. It's not that he doesn't have dreams, but dream-girl Paris Morgan (Christina Milian) seems too high and lofty to even consider. Until...

Yes, of course there's an "until," and it's handled with the customary awkwardness endemic to teen films. Paris, who resides in the fancy part of town, crashes her mom's Escalade SUV. Of course, she wasn't supposed to be driving it, so now she faces big-time trouble. Alvin steps in and offers to fix the vehicle, for a price; in return, Paris must pretend to be his girlfriend for two weeks. It's not that Alvin hopes to convince Paris to go out with him in that time. He just hopes her coolness and popularity will rub off on him somehow.

What's impressive about Love is that the rest of the movie takes a turn for the better. It helps that Cannon and Milian are both extremely winning young actors, with real chemistry between them. Milian, in particular, takes a difficult role (rich girl with a heart of gold) and embodies it with real depth. Furthermore, the secondary cast, especially Alvin's nerdy friends, feel like teenagers. Kenan Thompson has a fun part, and it's always a pleasure to watch him work. The teen dynamics might feel a little contrived to adults, especially in the clash between the jocks and the geeks, but I suspect teens will eat it up. That sense of wondering whether you can even walk down a certain hallway at school is used to nice effect. And when Paris's popularity does rub off on Alvin, his interactions with his friends ring true. He doesn't abandon them, but he's not in a hurry to introduce them to his new, more popular acquaintances.

One of the most striking things about Love is how pro-sex the movie is. That the opening song "Luv Me Baby" pays tribute to various aspects of a girl's anatomy or that the cinematography highlights numerous cleavage shots is no surprise. But when Alvin's father Clarence (Steve Harvey in an agreeably goofy performance) takes vicarious pleasure in his son's sexual advent, well that's unusual. This leads to an extended product placement for Trojan condoms, as Clarence first gives Alvin an entire box of prophylactics (a gift he's been saving for the right moment, like a dowry) and then offers a practice demonstration. This celebration of sex continues through the entire film, with the final shot featuring a kiss, a butt squeeze, and a giggle.

Now the last thing teenagers need is someone else encouraging them to have sex, but Love at least feels more honest than other teen romances. In films like She's All That and Varsity Blues, the main characters spend the entire movie desiring, hoping for, and pining after sex, while the director incites the hormones with lots of skin and heavy breathing. But then at the last minute everyone pulls back with a chaste, "We should wait." Love Don't Cost a Thing throws off that hypocrisy and embraces teen sex. Though everyone keeps their clothes on, the implication is that won't last much longer than the credits.

Not everything about Love feels organic, however. The ending, when Alvin renounces his coolness and receives a standing ovation in the process, is typically stupid teen fare. Even the eighth graders in the audience might be embarrassed. And I certainly won't blame parents who think that this PG-13 rating means no one under 17 should attend. But I'm a fan of teen movies, and this one's better than most.   

J. Robert Parks  1/17/2004