Presented with the extreme title "John Tucker Must Die," you initially can hope that a teen flick in the vein of that great black comedy "Heathers" might be in store.

Instead, you're treated to a dose of the cutes, but the movie still is a cut above the typical adolescent farce. For teenage girls, there's a quartet of likable young women who bond in a positive fashion rather than cat-fighting their way through cinematic high school cliches.

As a bonus, girls also get to see Jesse Metcalfe, Eva Longoria's gardening hunk on "Desperate Housewives," shirtless and even dressed in nothing but a thong, while for the guys who are dragged along to the movie, that quartet of young women is very, very easy on the eyes.

Metcalfe stars as John Tucker, the captain of the basketball team, the hottest guy in school and, through meticulous scheduling, a youth blessed with three girlfriends unaware their man is triple-timing them.

On John's hook are head cheerleader Heather (pop singer Ashanti), academic and extracurricular overachiever Carrie (Arielle Kebbel) and vegan animal-rights activist Beth (Sophia Bush).

After initial ploys backfire, they hit on the ideal payback: Make John fall hard for Kate, then have her break his heart.

Director Betty Thomas ("Doctor Dolittle," "The Brady Bunch Movie") maintains a pace brisk enough that even for parents forced to take their kids to see "John Tucker Must Die," the pain will be over quickly.