Jennifer's Body (2009)
Directed by Karyn Kusama
Written by Diablo Cody
Starring Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Simmons, J.K Simmons, Amy Sedaris, Adam Brody
Release Date September 18th, 2009
Published September 17th, 2009
Megan Fox is a beautiful woman who could coast through a very successful, if somewhat short, career if she chose. In fact, that is exactly what she did in her two biggest roles in the two Transformers movies. Her latest effort however, the horror film Jennifer's Body, requires a little more work than giant morphing robots.
Written by Oscar winner Diablo Cody this teen horror flick combines gore and humor in ways so complex some audiences won't know whether to laugh or recoil.
Megan Fox plays the Jennifer of the title. The head cheerleader and front runner for Prom Queen, Jennifer's one indulgence is her best friend Needy (Amanda Seyfried). Needy is on a completely different stratosphere from Jennifer but since they were friends as very young girls, they've stayed close.
When Jennifer takes Needy to a local, small town bar the plot kicks in. A rock band on the rise, lead by the O.C's Adam Brody, see Jennifer as their ticket to stardom. After an accident nearly kills everyone in the bar, the band offers Jennifer a ride home and she nearly doesn't survive it.
After a bizarre night in which Needy is haunted by something looking like her best friend, Jennifer is back at school the next day looking better than ever. The only difference is, she's now a cannibal demon, a succubus who eats boys. After snacking on a football star and an emo wannabe, Jennifer sets her sights on Needy's nerdy boyfriend.
The confrontation is well built and plays out entertainingly enough with Seyfried easily holding the screen with Fox, even as Ms. Fox goes all demony. However, both actresses take a backseat to writer Diablo Cody's pop savvy dialogue and Director Karyn Kusama's curious horror/comedy tone.
Jennifer's Body doesn't really know what it wants to be. The movie is played for dark laughs as it keeps a lighthearted tone not unlike Cody's Oscar winner Juno. However, even as things are light and breezy Jennifer is eating people and leaving behind a bloody mess.
This mix of gore and humor could work if the film were a little nastier. More Mean Girls Less My So Called Life. That is Mean Girls if Rachel McAdams character were a man eating demon. The template is Heathers, the 1989 black comedy starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater. That film had the guts to get mean and allow the actors to dig into the ugly sides of their characters.
Jennifer's Body is damn near good natured even as the body's pile up. The final confrontation brings the violence as it should but by then the film has already failed to compel. Too often Jennifer's Body falls back on the clever dialogue and insightful human notes of Diablo Cody. That was good in Juno but in a horror comedy we need something more.
We need atmosphere, a consistent tone and a scare or two. Jennifer's Body is sunny when it should be dark and flat when it should be sharp. It's often funny but grows awkward when it comes time for the scars. Too bad, there are some strong elements in Diablo Cody's script and a pair of stars who seem like they were capable of more.
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