SYNOPSIS:
When a gorgeous cheerleader is possessed by a demon and starts feeding off the boys in a small Minnesota farming town, her "plain Jane" best friend must kill her, then escape from a correctional facility to go after the Satan-worshipping rock band responsible for the horrible transformation.
When a gorgeous cheerleader is possessed by a demon and starts feeding off the boys in a small Minnesota farming town, her "plain Jane" best friend must kill her, then escape from a correctional facility to go after the Satan-worshipping rock band responsible for the horrible transformation.
Is this supposed to be funny or played as a straight horror? I ask because as an apparent attempt to combine both, Jennifer's Body completely misses the mark due to a primary lack of characters that extend beyond the cardboard cutout representations the film initially introduces us to. As a result, anyone looking to write-off Megan Fox as a lead actress is going to have to hold your breath a little longer as she is given very little to work with on this D.O.A. thriller.
Written by Diablo Cody, I think we all hoped to find her growing as a screenwriter, but instead the cutesy little dialogue she wrote for Juno carries over into this feature, although this time coming across stilted and dull. Perhaps this comes as a fault of director Karyn Kusama, whose Girlfight I have not seen, but she presented a similarly lifeless effort in 2005's Aeon Flux.
With Jennifer's Body, Fox stars as the title character whom we first meet and realize she is a small town slut and someone you would never accuse of being intelligent. She drags her not-so-ironically nicknamed friend Needy (Amanda Seyfried) to a local dive bar in an effort to score with the lead singer of Low Shoulder played by "The O.C." star Adam Brody. Long story short, the bar burns down, Jennifer heads off with the band in their "'89 rapist" van and not much later we find Jennifer feeding on local boys to survive. How did it all happen? You'll have to pay to get that info as I'm not spoiling the rest.
A few one-liners hit their mark, but many of them are lost as Fox plays Jennifer almost entirely straight-faced, a decision that just doesn't work. Amanda Seyfried and her onscreen boyfriend, played by Johnny Simmons, have a playful relationship, an amusing remark or two come as a result, but it feels like nothing more than a cliched plot device as opposed to characters deserving of our investment, especially since Cody doesn't invest in them.
Written by Diablo Cody, I think we all hoped to find her growing as a screenwriter, but instead the cutesy little dialogue she wrote for Juno carries over into this feature, although this time coming across stilted and dull. Perhaps this comes as a fault of director Karyn Kusama, whose Girlfight I have not seen, but she presented a similarly lifeless effort in 2005's Aeon Flux.
With Jennifer's Body, Fox stars as the title character whom we first meet and realize she is a small town slut and someone you would never accuse of being intelligent. She drags her not-so-ironically nicknamed friend Needy (Amanda Seyfried) to a local dive bar in an effort to score with the lead singer of Low Shoulder played by "The O.C." star Adam Brody. Long story short, the bar burns down, Jennifer heads off with the band in their "'89 rapist" van and not much later we find Jennifer feeding on local boys to survive. How did it all happen? You'll have to pay to get that info as I'm not spoiling the rest.
A few one-liners hit their mark, but many of them are lost as Fox plays Jennifer almost entirely straight-faced, a decision that just doesn't work. Amanda Seyfried and her onscreen boyfriend, played by Johnny Simmons, have a playful relationship, an amusing remark or two come as a result, but it feels like nothing more than a cliched plot device as opposed to characters deserving of our investment, especially since Cody doesn't invest in them.
Perhaps this movie would have worked had an actress other than Megan Fox taken on the lead role. As it stands Fox can't say anything that would surprise anyone paying attention to pop culture. So while it is funny when she makes a joke that results in her character having to sit on a bag of frozen peas for a day, it isn't as shocking as it would have been had the role been played by a more assumed-innocent actress who isn't spouting off insults and sexual innuendo in every interview.
As a result, Jennifer's Body ends up a disappointment. There are plenty of "what ifs" and the major one for me would be What if they gave it to a better director? but unfortunately we are left with what we have here and as it turns out it just isn't that good.
JENNIFER'S BODY (2009)
Starring: Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Adam Brody, J.K. Simmons, Kyle Gallner
Director: Karyn Kusama
Screenwriter: Diablo Cody
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Genre: Comedy / Horror
Rating: R
Release Date: September 18, 2009
Official Site: http://www.jennifersbody.com
As a result, Jennifer's Body ends up a disappointment. There are plenty of "what ifs" and the major one for me would be What if they gave it to a better director? but unfortunately we are left with what we have here and as it turns out it just isn't that good.
JENNIFER'S BODY (2009)
Starring: Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Adam Brody, J.K. Simmons, Kyle Gallner
Director: Karyn Kusama
Screenwriter: Diablo Cody
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Genre: Comedy / Horror
Rating: R
Release Date: September 18, 2009
Official Site: http://www.jennifersbody.com
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