Jennifer's Body

Megan Fox does not make a very convincing demonic Hell spawn. Maybe that's an odd way to open a review, but it's the first thing that springs to my mind when I think back on why Jennifer's Body doesn't completely work. It's impossible to be terrified of her, because she doesn't exactly have an aura of menace or fear. No matter how much fake blood is splattered around her mouth, or how often she spews out black bile, I was not afraid.

To be fair, the movie is not really supposed to be taken entirely seriously. Yes, it has thriller elements, but I get the sense that we're supposed to be laughing through most of this. It works a little bit better as a dark comedy, but not enough for me to recommend. The film is the much-hyped second project of Diablo Cody, the writer who launched to fame two years ago with her Oscar-winning script to Juno. That film was a strong showcase for her style of humor and pop culture-referencing writing style, but here, it seems off. It sounds forced when characters are having a conversation about a person's death, and someone blurts out "Oh my God, just move on.org". It's like she's trying too hard to replicate her past success. I liked the idea behind the film. The movie sort of wants to be a supernatural spin on Mean Girls, or maybe the late 80s cult classic, Heathers. But the execution by Cody and director Karyn Kusama (Aeon Flux) misses the mark more than it hits.

At the beginning, we're introduced to two life-long best friends, Jennifer Check (Megan Fox) and Needy Lesnicky (Amanda Seyfried from Mama Mia). They grew up together in the small town of Devil's Kettle, and now in high school, they're still together, despite the different paths life has led them. Jennifer is the popular cheerleader - hit on by every boy in school. She understands the power she holds, and uses it over everyone, including Needy, who is quiet and meek, and generally does whatever Jennifer asks without question. Needy has a nice boyfriend named Chip (Johnny Simmons), but she clearly belongs mainly to Jennifer. They have the kind of friendship where if they go out together, Needy is not allowed to wear something better than Jennifer is. The movie also hints at feelings possibly deeper than friendship between the two girls, but doesn't quite go far enough with it, other than a scene in Needy's bedroom late in the film that is supposed to be shocking, but given the context of the scene itself, is just awkward and unnecessary.

The two girls hit a local bar early on, because Jennifer wants to hear a rising indie band named Low Shoulder that's performing there. The lead singer of the band (Adam Brody) takes an interest in Jennifer - an interest so strong that not even the fact the bar burns down due to an electrical malfunction during their song can break it. The fire claims almost everyone in the bar, except for Jennifer, Needy, and the band. The singer does not seem that disturbed by the events of the evening, and instead invites Jennifer to come with the band in their van. Needy protests, but Jennifer goes along. The next time Needy sees her friend, she's covered in blood, letting out demonic shrieks, and spewing black ooze. And the next time after that, Jennifer seems perfectly fine, as if nothing had happened the night before. It's right about this time also that a mysterious series of cannibalistic murders start hitting the quiet town, the victims being various young men from the high school.

I won't go into too much detail, but you already know from the commercials that Jennifer has somehow become possessed by a demonic monster, and needs to feed upon human flesh in order to stay strong and youthful. Needy puts two and two together, and realizing she's the only one who can stop her, visits the occult section of the school library to find more information. ("We have an occult section?", Chip asks her.) I liked the angle of Needy having to rely on herself for the first time. She had always been a wallflower, and using Jennifer as her strength. She finds herself alone when Chip doesn't believe her, and she doesn't know who to turn to. If the movie had played upon this dilemma more, it might have resonated, but the screenplay is too interested in cheap thrills that do not thrill, and laughs that miss more than hit. The tone constantly seems off. It's never scary, and it's never quite as clever as it seems to think it is. I smiled at a couple of the lines, but the movie never got the big laughs it was obviously aiming for.

Jennifer's Body is also supposed to obviously be a real role for Megan Fox to prove she can do more than be eye candy for Michael Bay. I guess she's okay for the most part, but like I said at the very beginning, she's not scary or threatening, and that sort of sinks her performance. It doesn't help that she spends a lot of her scenes with Seyfried, who is much better here. She makes Needy into a more three dimensional heroine than we usually get in the horror genre. There are a couple interesting supporting characters that I wish the movie would have spent more time with. These include Kyle Gallner (The Haunting in Connecticut) as a surprisingly sweet-natured and sympathetic Goth teen at the school, and J.K. Simmons giving another offbeat, but criminally underused, performance as a teacher with a hook for a hand. Simmons has spent a good part of 2009 appearing in small roles where he barely registers. He's much too interesting of a character actor to be treated this way, and I hope he can get his hands on another stand-out role soon.

My mixed feelings for this movie carried all the way to the end. The wraparound opening and ending sequence seemed unnecessary, but the additional scene that plays over the first half of the ending credits brought things to a satisfying conclusion. Jennifer's Body is like an experiment that just didn't work out the way it was planned. You wish Cody would have allowed herself another rewrite or two. Whether it was at the conceptual, screenplay, or filmmaking level, something held this movie back.

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