Jennifer's Body (2009)

Director:

Karyn Kusama

Writer (WGA):

Diablo Cody (written by)

Release Date:

18 September 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

She's evil... and not just high school evil.

Plot:

A newly possessed cheerleader turns into a killer who specializes in offing her male classmates. Can her best friend put an end to the horror?

Plot Keywords:

Best Friend | Cheerleader | Blood | Teenage Sex | Scene During End Credits

Cast

Megan Fox	...	Jennifer
Amanda Seyfried	...	Needy
Johnny Simmons	...	Chip
Adam Brody	...	Nikolai
Sal Cortez	...	Chas
Ryan Levine	...	Mick
Juan Riedinger	...	Dirk
Colin Askey	...	Keyboardist
Chris Pratt	...	Roman Duda
Juno Ruddell	...	Officer Warzak
Kyle Gallner	...	Colin Gray
Josh Emerson	...	Jonas Konelle
J.K. Simmons	...	Mr. Wroblewski
Amy Sedaris	...	Needy's Mom
Cynthia Stevenson	...	Chip's Mom

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality, bloody violence, language and brief drug use.

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #44717) | UK:15 | Ireland:16 | New Zealand:R16 | South Korea:18 | Canada:13+ (Québec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Australia:MA | Singapore:NC-16 (edited version) | Hong Kong:IIB | Argentina:16 | Brazil:16 | Germany:18 (nf) | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Mexico:B15 | Germany:16 (extended version)

Filming Locations:

Devil's Kettle Falls, Minnesota, USA

Company:

Dune Entertainment

Trivia:

The name 'Needy' Lesnicky comes from writer Diablo Cody's initial intention to have the character be of a 'needy' disposition. She later decided against this as she felt she had seen enough nerdy stereotypes in high school set movies.

Quotes:

Needy Lesnicky: How are you going to get alcohol?
Jennifer Check: I'll just play Hello Titty with the bartender.

Movie Connections:

References The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Soundtrack:

Little Lover's So Polite

Neither scary nor particularly funny...

Predictably, the only reason I went to see Jennifer's Body was because of Megan Fox. Not because I think she's a great actress - she's done nothing to prove this - but because... well, it's Megan Fox. The only reason why she was "discovered" by Michael Bay and put in the Transformers movies was because she's hot, and that's precisely the only reason why she was given her first starring role with Jennifer's Body. Because, really, although she isn't particularly awful - I've seen worst performances in porn movies - her performing skills don't deserve as much attention as she has been receiving. Yes, that basically means she doesn't give a very good performance in Jennifer's Body. And to be honest, that's something of a disappointment - before watching the movie, I had a little bit of hope that the reason why Fox had given such horrible performances in the Transformers movies was Michael Bay's inability to direct actors. After watching this movie, though, I concluded that Fox is nothing more than eye candy - whether she's directed by Bay or Martin Scorsese, she'll always give a bad performance.

The film tells the story of teenager Needy (Amanda Seyfried), whose best friend is the ridiculously hot Jennifer (Megan Fox). The former has a somehow timid but likable boyfriend, Chip (Johnny Simmons) while the latter loves the fact that she can sleep with whoever she wants whenever she wants. One night, Jennifer takes Needy to a bar to watch the semi-popular rock band Low Shoulder. The lead singer (Adam Brody) gives Needy the creeps but Jennifer likes him. After the show is abruptly ended by a fire, the group takes her to their van and they disappear... Needy fears the worst. Next day, though, Jennifer appears to be all right. It turns out that, instead of dying a pretty horrible death, she was turned into a demon who has to eat boys in order to maintain her hotness.

I understand what Diablo Cody (screenwritter of the fabulous Juno) tried to do. Instead of crafting a straight-forward horror story, she tried to write something a little more humorous and a little more quirky, but the problem with this approach is that the movie doesn't really know what it wants to do. At times, it can be hilarious - because the filmmakers are providing with a joke or gag or some weird-ish, quirky line -, while at others it can be unintentionally - and awfully - funny. And when it tries to be scary, it utterly - and somehow embarrassingly - fails. You'd have to be either a very small boy or girl or a very frightful person in order to be scared by the movie.

Although the aforementioned Fox is not very convincing as Jennifer - okay, that's unfair; she is convincing when portraying the mega-hot high-school girl because she's basically playing herself; it's when she turns into a boy-eating monster that things become laughable -, the rest of the cast are pretty much all right. Because Amanda Seyfried - who was delightful in the underrated Mamma Mia - can act, Fox's performance seems even more artificial than it already is. What's more - Needy is virtually the only believable character in the whole movie, which is a blessing considering she's the main one. Johnny Simmons is also very likable as Chip - his eventual fate was the only scene in the film that got me emotionally involved with what was happening on screen - and a very small supporting performance by J.K. Simmons - as a school teacher - is as memorable as things get in this film.

Those who want to watch the movie to catch a glimpse of a naked Megan Fox are definitely going to be disappointed. Although there's plenty of gore, guts and language, Fox never gets naked. During a weird skinny dipping scene, her nude body is hidden from view by tricky camera angles and other techniques, and the only really sexual scene in which she gets involved - not even Fox can make cannibalism hot - is a lesbian kissing sequence with Seyfried. Can't say it's not a hot scene - because it is - but it somehow seemed tame for today's standards. Really, though, these are only very small problems which I could have forgiven had the film worked as a horror flick - the main problem with Jennifer's Body is that it's neither scary nor laugh-out-loud funny.

Having seen and appreciated Juno, I was expecting more from screen writer Diablo Cody. This is a case of a very successful - and from what I gathered from her previous movie, talented - screen writer trying to do something different and failing. Yes, her intentions were really noble, but the end result - being, in this case, a motion picture - is nothing short of a disaster. While Amanda Seyfried tries to give her best - unlike Fox, she doesn't embarrass herself -, the rest of the production is so mediocre I can't believe someone thought it was worth releasing in theatres. If Jennifer's Body was a way to prove that Diablo Cody could write a successful horror film, it failed. And if it was to prove that Megan Fox was something more than eye candy, then it also failed. And really, Fox isn't that hot either. For my money, Seyfried is a million times prettier, and she has the advantage that, unlike Fox, she can act.