With one of the worst starts in recent memory, I Love You, Beth Cooper kicks off at a high school graduation. We meet valedictorian Dennis (Paul Rust). He’s ridden with angst as he waits the moment where he will deliver his privileged speech. A flashback (this won’t be the last) then illustrates how he was urged by his pal Rich into making his big move on this grand stage: telling Beth Cooper (Hayden Panettiere) that he lovers her. Herein lies one of many issues which plagues the front half of the film. Who is Beth Cooper? What do we know about Dennis? Where is the tension when we have no knowledge of these characters?
Somehow Beth decides that Dennis’s act was charming enough to hangout with him. Tagging along are her two cheerleader friends who have the characterization of hot air. To be fair, one is noticeably more absent than the other. The three girls head to Dennis’s house and are soon hunted down by Beth’s boyfriend Kevin, a manic, militant, muscle head, who also trips on a cocktail of drugs that send him into roid rage. With all these stereotypes, it’s awkward that the unusually cool parents of the biggest geek in school are two of the more interesting characters in the film, and even more unusual that Alan Ruck was selected to play the role of the easygoing dad.
Not only is pacing an issue and the characters cartoons, but the jokes are not particularly funny. There are large spans of time where the funny bone goes untickled. I blame much of this on the screenplay. It’s asking a lot of the audience to buy into a story where no one takes the real world seriously after the first five minutes. It’s an identity crisis. The threat from the jock is nulled because he takes part in the gags, using towels and toy lightsabers to fight the geeks. Now would be a great time to mention that this comes courteous the director of Home Alone, Chris Columbus. Even the adults behave like teens; ready to jump into bed whenever the chance arises.
Hayden Panettiere is the only thing putting this in theatres. In fact, I don’t recall her ever being a force at the box office, and her appeal on TV is limited to a rip-off of X-Men. I Love You, Beth Cooper is one of the last films produced under Fox Atomic, a subsidiary branded to appeal toward young adults who I also believe are not the audience for this film. The more clever moments are references to material beyond my age, while the cartoonish aspects of many scenes are juxtaposed with frequent sex and drug connotations (though subdued by not illicitly showing either act). I suppose there wasn’t anywhere for this film to go but down, but at least it met my low expectations. Heck, I’m mildly pleased/astonished that there were zero occurrences of flatulence (the solid state waste of a cow doesn’t count). For shear boldness in avoiding the bottom of the barrel, I have to give some form of a reward. **
Loading ...
Recent Comments