Jennifer's Body
2.5/4
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Megan Fox, Johnny Simmons, Adam Brody
Rated R for Sexuality, Bloody Violence, Language and Brief Drug Use
Believe it or not, I'm not the world's biggest fan of the 2007 surprise hit "Juno." From top to bottom, that movie gave off a sense of trying too hard. Diablo Cody's script was so desperately quirky that it became overbearing and I've always found Ellen Page to be trying to be normal. With her obviously quavering voice and exaggerated "normal" emotionality, she got on my nerves (apparently I'm the only one because she got an Oscar nod out of the deal). Which brings us to "Jennifer's Body," Cody's second film. While it certainly has its problems, it rectifies the most egregious problems of her Oscar-winning script: the humor in the movie is more natural and they bite rather than they annoy, and there's no sense that it's trying to be quirky.
In a small American town live Needy Lesnicki (Seyfried) and Jennifer Check (Fox). They're complete opposites and they know it. Jennifer is a babe (as the saying goes, "Every guy wants to be with her and every girl wants to be her") while Needy is a wallflower. One night, the domineering Jennifer drags Needy to a bar where the indie band Low Shoulder is playing. Shortly after they start playing, the bar goes up in flames and everybody but Needy, Jennifer and the band dies. The band's lead singer, Nikolai (Brody), who had flirted with Jennifer before the place went up in flames, invites Jennifer to take a ride with them. Needy has a bad feeling about this but Jennifer goes anyway. Later, she appears in Needy's kitchen all bloody and spewing black goo. Then she comes to school the next day looking like a million bucks. Soon, however, the school's male populace is declining, and Needy thinks that Jennifer has something to do with it.
The part of Jennifer could probably have been only played by Megan Fox. I may be gay, but my God, she is gorgeous. The raven-haired beauty has been getting a lot of knocks for not having any talent as an actress, which confuses me. She's not the greatest thespian, but she's a good one (compare her to Katherine Heigl). Fox plays Jennifer with a sense of confidence and charisma; she knows she's sexy and will happily take advantage of it if she wants to. Amanda Seyfried is almost universally regarded as one of the today's leading young actresses, and with good reason. Even in the silliest of movies, she does excellent work. Seyfried finds the right tone for the character, and she and Fox have some chemistry together (not enough, in my opinion...there's little sexual tension between them). But the true scene-stealer is Johnny Simmons, who plays Needy's adorable boyfriend. Although he's not classically handsome, he is kind and genuine, and he has a great smile. Seyfried has more chemistry with him than with Fox. Adam Brody is great as always, too.
The film tries to do a lot, but some of it doesn't work very well. In essence, Cody's script requires a deft touch and a kind of warped treatment. Director Karyn Kusama's debut feature, "Girlfight," is a wonderful movie, but either she is the wrong person for this kind of movie, or she didn't understand the kind of film this was (think John Hughes mixed with The Coen Brothers). Regardless, it's a bad fit.
"Jennifer's Body" isn't a terrible movie by any means. It's sporadically entertaining and almost never boring. One big criticism I have is how the people react to the sudden deaths of the townspeople/classmates. It's played too close to home to be satirical and is a bad fit for a movie like this.
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Megan Fox, Johnny Simmons, Adam Brody
Rated R for Sexuality, Bloody Violence, Language and Brief Drug Use
Believe it or not, I'm not the world's biggest fan of the 2007 surprise hit "Juno." From top to bottom, that movie gave off a sense of trying too hard. Diablo Cody's script was so desperately quirky that it became overbearing and I've always found Ellen Page to be trying to be normal. With her obviously quavering voice and exaggerated "normal" emotionality, she got on my nerves (apparently I'm the only one because she got an Oscar nod out of the deal). Which brings us to "Jennifer's Body," Cody's second film. While it certainly has its problems, it rectifies the most egregious problems of her Oscar-winning script: the humor in the movie is more natural and they bite rather than they annoy, and there's no sense that it's trying to be quirky.
In a small American town live Needy Lesnicki (Seyfried) and Jennifer Check (Fox). They're complete opposites and they know it. Jennifer is a babe (as the saying goes, "Every guy wants to be with her and every girl wants to be her") while Needy is a wallflower. One night, the domineering Jennifer drags Needy to a bar where the indie band Low Shoulder is playing. Shortly after they start playing, the bar goes up in flames and everybody but Needy, Jennifer and the band dies. The band's lead singer, Nikolai (Brody), who had flirted with Jennifer before the place went up in flames, invites Jennifer to take a ride with them. Needy has a bad feeling about this but Jennifer goes anyway. Later, she appears in Needy's kitchen all bloody and spewing black goo. Then she comes to school the next day looking like a million bucks. Soon, however, the school's male populace is declining, and Needy thinks that Jennifer has something to do with it.
The part of Jennifer could probably have been only played by Megan Fox. I may be gay, but my God, she is gorgeous. The raven-haired beauty has been getting a lot of knocks for not having any talent as an actress, which confuses me. She's not the greatest thespian, but she's a good one (compare her to Katherine Heigl). Fox plays Jennifer with a sense of confidence and charisma; she knows she's sexy and will happily take advantage of it if she wants to. Amanda Seyfried is almost universally regarded as one of the today's leading young actresses, and with good reason. Even in the silliest of movies, she does excellent work. Seyfried finds the right tone for the character, and she and Fox have some chemistry together (not enough, in my opinion...there's little sexual tension between them). But the true scene-stealer is Johnny Simmons, who plays Needy's adorable boyfriend. Although he's not classically handsome, he is kind and genuine, and he has a great smile. Seyfried has more chemistry with him than with Fox. Adam Brody is great as always, too.
The film tries to do a lot, but some of it doesn't work very well. In essence, Cody's script requires a deft touch and a kind of warped treatment. Director Karyn Kusama's debut feature, "Girlfight," is a wonderful movie, but either she is the wrong person for this kind of movie, or she didn't understand the kind of film this was (think John Hughes mixed with The Coen Brothers). Regardless, it's a bad fit.
"Jennifer's Body" isn't a terrible movie by any means. It's sporadically entertaining and almost never boring. One big criticism I have is how the people react to the sudden deaths of the townspeople/classmates. It's played too close to home to be satirical and is a bad fit for a movie like this.
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