Diablo Cody burst onto the scene two years ago writing the coming of age, teen pregnancy, quirk-fest of a movie Juno. It was a delightful little movie that was critically acclaimed and earned her a writing Oscar. The movie made people like Ellen Page and Michael Cera household names. On Friday I went out and saw her highly anticipated follow up movie.
Jennifer’s Body had some of the same elements as Juno and some things that I didn’t expect. Cody kept some of the quirky slang, the interesting characters, and an opening scene that grabs your attention what she added was gore and a subtlety that was not in her first film.
Jennifer’s Body is about Jennifer (Megan Fox) the popular highschool cheerleader and her best friend Needy (Amanda Seyfried) who is nerdy and awkward. Their friendship is destroyed when Jennifer becomes possessed by a demon and starts eating local boys (literally) including Needy’s boyfriend. And there is a rock band involved but I am not going to tell you how cuz that will ruin it for you.
At first when I heard about this movie and that Megan Fox was going to play one of the leads I wasn’t even going to bother. She can’t act, I find her obnoxious and her stripper chic is just unattractive. I know this may sound cruel but when I heard she was going to get all messed up and grotesque and stuff I was all for it. Plus Amanda Seyfried was going to be in it and I enjoy her.
The movie turned out to be pretty good. I liked the way it was constructed. It starts almost at the end, then goes to the beginning, then runs through all the way to the end and finishes off in a brilliant photo montage. The montage was a perfect end for the movie. And the sound track was just amazing. It includes Panic at the Disco, Little Boots, Dashboard Confessionals, Cobra Starship, Black Kids, and more. Half the people on the soundtrack I have never heard of but they have some wicked songs that fit perfectly the way they are used in the film.
The acting was good. Seyfried was great as Needy. You can see the changes in her character as the movie progresses. She starts off soft and doe-eyes and ends the movie hard and fierce. And Megan Fox did a good job too. No I will not say it was because she can act, it was simply because she played herself. She was vapid, self obsessed and selfish which was perfect for playing Jennifer. And the supporting cast was good too. There was Johnny Simmons, Adam Brody, Kyle Galler, and J.K. Simmons.
No the movie is not Oscar worthy, it isn’t that good and it’s just not that kind of movie. Its camp juvenile nature and the fact that it is a horror/comedy will not allow it. But like Juno I don’t think it was meant to be. I liked Juno but I still don’t think it deserved an Oscar and that is one of the reasons that there has been a backlash against it. But this movie is more subtle. It wasn’t as excessively quirky as the first film was. It still used but greatly reduced the amount of strange slang, there was sarcasm and satire. It is simply entertaining and at no point takes itself too seriously.
I do recommend seeing this movie. It is much better than most of the teen horror/thriller/torture porn movies out there. Jennifer’s Body is funny, entertaining, twisted, and creepy at times. I think you will enjoy it.
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