Jennifer's Body Movie Review
Jennifer's Body Movie Review
Jennifer's bawdy, alright!
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"I don't kill people, I kill boys," deadpans demonized cheerleader Jennifer Check (Megan Fox, Transformers). The girl can't help it: she's the victim of a Satanic ritual foisted upon her bangin' body by touring emo rock band, Low Shoulder.
Ala Robert Johnson, but with a lot more guy-liner and pleather, the smoldering lead singer Nikolai Wolf (Adam Brody, "The O.C.") will do anything for fame and fortune. "Do you know how hard it is to make it as an indie band these days?" he complains by way of explanation just before he brutally stabs a bound and gagged Jennifer in a lonely forest. "The fact is, if you don't get on Letterman or some retarded soundtrack, you're screwed." But what he doesn't know is that the whole plan is screwed because he thought Jennifer was a virgin… she wasn't, and so let's just say the sacrificial rite doesn't go right.
Jennifer's BFF since the sandbox days, Needy Lesnicky (Amanda Seyfried, "Big Love"), is the first to discover that something is wrong with Jennifer. Turns out she's evil, and "Not just high school evil." Jennifer's body needs boys to stay alive, and of course that means they can't. As the corpse count mounts in the small town of Devil's Kettle (one victim's remains are described as "lasagna with teeth"), Needy wrestles with her conscience. She knows her BFF is an undead murderer who loves'em and leaves'em stiffs, but Needy is willing to let that go until she finds out that her own sweet boyfriend, Chip (Johnny Simmons, The Spirit), is on Jennifer's racy radar.
Some of the lines in the film are probably better-read than said (like when our villainous vixen says to Needy and Chip: "It smells like Thai food in here. Have you guys been Phucking?"), but if you pay close attention to what's being said, you'll be much enriched by this very sexy, over-the-top and sometimes even chilling horror comedy.
Yep… I never thought I'd say this, but I loved Jennifer's Body. And what's more, I loved Megan Fox. Now, I have been a fan of Diablo Cody's quippy, snarky voice for some time, but for me Jennifer's Body had many, many 'cross-outs' from the git-go. First of all, I never much liked Fox either as a person or an actor. Secondly, I have not enjoyed any of director Karyn Kusama's previous films (Girlfight and Aeon Flux). The final nail in the coffin was reading Cody's original spec script and also having been on set while filming, and not being especially won over by either.
It helps that the casting is absolutely watertight (yeah, there's a showdown in a pool, ala Poltergeist, Freddy's Revenge… and many others). I cannot think of anyone better to play the bright, bitchy, beautiful pom-pom girl and what's more, the alpha-omega dynamic between the popular teen and her "needy" nerdy friend (the anti-Carrie) is actually believable. Seyfried aces everything she does (well, OK, there was the abysmal Mama Mia! but nobody could've saved that flop), but I think Brody will surprise some with his world-weary, wry comedic chops.
Wisely focusing on the youths in the story, we see very little of the parents and authority figures — but they're perfectly placed: J.K. Simmons (Juno, "Oz") as the rash-infested, hook-handed teacher (apparently the only one commanding a chalkboard at the high school) is hysterically funny in his quietly desperate way; SNL star Amy Sedaris steals her scene as Needy's lioness-protector / white bread mother; and Carrie Genzel makes the most of her few moments as Jennifer's horrified mom who, you can just tell at a glance, was the Devil's Kettle High Prom Queen in her day. (Dads really aren't a part of the picture here… males are mostly meals).
The music is pretty cheesy, and more than likely the pop-culture references and cheeky, self-aware dialogue will give Jennifer's Body an expiration date (much like the disintegrating title character), but there are quite a few classic, iconic moments as well. The best bolsterer is the gorgeous cinematography by M. David Mullen (a Cody cohort from "The United States of Tara"). While it's not ostentatious, it's very beautiful in its simplicity and frames filled with pertinent information — nature is a design thematic throughout the story, but it's all very subliminal. This subtlety augments, rather than argues with, the macabre Paganistic winks and nods.
That is not to say Jennifer's Body is flawless. There's no mystery or suspense, both of which are the lifeblood of any successful fright flick (even a horror-comedy; Trick 'r Treat and Drag Me To Hell are two recent prime examples). Absurd and audacious, Jennifer's Body is not for everyone… She may not be a virgin, but she doesn't give it up for just any boy with a movie ticket.
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson
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