Jennifer's Body - DVD Review

Details: By Loron Hays; 25 April 2010

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</script></div>{/googleAds}And in this corner, weighing in at a total of 120 lbs, is Diablo Cody's second screenplay effort; full of the same piss and vinegar attitude that dog-eared the pages of Juno - everyone's favorite screenplay from 2007. Following in its fresh footsteps, one would think seeing how original the voice of Juno actually was that a follow-up would be just as fresh and original; however, that is not the case here. Jennifer's Body is neither one of those two categories. It is, in fact, a total disappointment. It isn't a comedy because you won't laugh. It isn't a horror film because you won't scream. It's... it's... it's...

Hmm...

... it's the story of how one high school cheerleading starlet becomes possessed after sacrificed to the devil at the hands of an indie rock band, Low Shoulder, because they want to become famous. (Author's note: There is a pretty clever line here as spoken in the movie, but I'll let that little gem of dialogue stay in the movie.) Since Jennifer lied about being a virgin upon her sacrifice, she becomes a high school hottie succubus and has to mack and snack on some boys in order for the spirit inside her to remain actively engaged in all things evil. All Hell breaks loose when her friend is told the truth and has to come to terms with the fact that her BFF is now a spawn of satan and wants her boyfriend, too. Admittedly, the idea behind the movie sounds funny and clever and all sorts of exciting things for movie-goers, its execution; however, is its own death knoll.

While the pop culture references of Cody's dialogue remain inventive, they are in large chunks muted and missing in this film and, when in use, seem completely out of place. It's Dawson's Creek all over again; the dialogue is too smart for these dumb characters to mouth. It's as if the movie suffers from not knowing its own tone considering the jokey dialogue. Is it meant to scathing in its portrayal of high school girls ala Mean Girls? Is it bitter and ironic ala Heathers? Is it too smart for its own audience? Maybe.

The biting humor written in the screenplay - as filmed - falls flat and it's not because the actresses Megan Fox as the possessed Jennifer and Amanda Seyfried as her bookish BFF - don't know that their lines aren't to be taken seriously. The leads are fine. They've brought their best work here. Both actresses will survive this movie. It's just a mess of a film. This is a femme-fueled attempt at a jokey John Carpenter film, but it comes off confused and in the same vein as Wes Craven's Scream franchise: it's not funny and it's not scary. It has smart and clever dialogue, but the direction is so... boring. While there are several references to Sam Raimi's Evil Dead via poster and t-shirt and similar lines of dialogue and if it is director Karyn Kusama's meaning to make a comparison of this film to his work then know that Jennifer's Body, while dark and twisted, is nowhere near the comic intelligence of the Evil Dead series.

Jennifer's Body is not a parody, it's played and directed too straight for that. It's not a horror film either as stated earlier. It has moments of horror, but to slap that genre on it is unfair and simply wrong. It's not funny either. While there are a couple of lines that might get a chuckle or two (or go over the head of the average teenage audience too dumb to understand Drag Me to Hell), humor is something this vehicle is not running on. And, if this is satire, then there's a little book called The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn that the director should read to truly understand how society can be satirized and remain entertaining... or simply watch episodes of Seinfeld.

As a fan of the whole horror/comedy/gore/hot actress category, you'll want to like it and feel bad when you don't. It's a movie that will leave most scratching their heads. This isn't Raimi material here while it wants to be it simply isn't. It's a copycat of a copycat and it shows. It has teeth, but no bite. Its howl is piercing, but there's no attack. It's harmless and forgettable. There will be those who suggest to watch it and to just forget about it. If that's your type of cinema, then watch it and forget about it because Jennifer's Body is as dead and lifeless as... well... Jennifer's body.