The teen genre of film making has reached a new low with New Line Cinema’s latest attempt to attract the middle school set with “Sugar & Spice.”The problem with the current barrage of teen flicks hitting the market is lack of plot lines and character twists to keep respective stories interesting. The rags-to-riches makeover story, the boy-gets-girl saga and about every viable plot for a slasher flick involving attractive rich kids have all been done – more than once. So what’s left for movie-makers?Well, in “Sugar and Spice” the creators hope to hook pre-teen girls with a trailer filled with catchy pop music, cute boys and cheerleading routines. Teens are drawn to theaters expecting to see the typical teen flick, but instead are told a story filled with the glorification of robbing banks for the benefit of a cheerleader’s soon-to-be-born child.Of course, this is all packaged under the genre of the “dark comedy” to eliminate any criticism surrounding the sensitive nature of many of the references made in the film.The main characters are a close-knit group of cheerleaders that vary from a devoted Christian, to a convict’s daughter, to a Harvard-bound perfectionist. After Jack (James Marsden), the high school quarterback, impregnates the cheerleading captain Diane (Marley Shelton), the squad develops a plan to help her raise some much-needed money to survive in the real world.Forget your typical after-school job. This plan involves robbing the local bank branch disguised as pregnant Betty dolls. The chaos that ensues is nothing short of a national scandal. Cameos include MTV’s Kurt Loder and Conan O’Brien, with which one of the character’s has a mad obsession with. Shelton is mildly entertaining as the sweet cheerleader, while Marsden goes over the top as the sickeningly supportive boyfriend. An over-abundance of close-ups on the two young lovebirds, looking almost shell-shocked in their attempt to feign adoration for each other, makes the audience almost gag with their lack of realism.Mena Suvari brings life and credibility to the film as Kansas, the tough loud mouth on the team. This is certainly a step-down from her prior roles in the critically acclaimed “American Beauty” and the blockbuster hit “American Pie.” Marla Sokoloff shines as the B-team follower, desperate to make the A-team cheer squad. Sokoloff also serves as narrator. Rachel Blanchard (TV’s “Clueless”) is Alicia Silverstone’s Cher in “Clueless” personified. The film does have its share of laughs. These include Madonna song lyrics and Barbie and Ken references. Being a dark comedy, the film does a certain amount of poking fun at itself. The mean cheerleader references will no doubt anger at least some people looking to see another version of last summer’s hilarious “Bring it On.” Other jokes, including a couple of Jesus Christ references, are bordering on lewd and highly unnecessary.Those looking to see something that gives teens the credit for being anything relating to intelligent should look elsewhere. This film plays the dumb teenager card well.In “Sugar & Spice,” the ditziness of “Clueless” combined with the unrealistic quality of fellow teen-flicks “She’s All That” and “Whatever It Takes” create an annoying 80 minutes. Hold off on this one until it hits video stores, which should not be very long.