Written by: Diablo Cody
Directed by: Karyn Kusama
Genre: Comedy, horror, parody
Jennifer (Megan Fox) convinces her best friend Needy (Amanda Seyfried) to come see a rock band at their local bar. After a fire rips through the bar the band take Jennifer into the woods and sacrifice her to Satan in order to become famous. The sacrifice goes wrong and Jennifer becomes inhabited by a demon and in order to stay strong Jennifer feeds on the boys in her high school. Needy is the only one who suspects anything and sets about stopping her.
I know, it doesn’t sound that great, and depending how you feel about Diablo Cody and Megan Fox this may in fact be a movie you couldn’t be paid to watch. I on the other hand have been looking forward to Jennifer’s Body for quite some time now. I’m a big fan of both Megan Fox and Diablo Cody but it wasn’t just the involvement of these two which made me keep an eye on Jennifer’s Body. Truth be told I’m an even bigger fan of the supporting cast who include Amanda Seyfried (Veronica Mars), Adam Brody (The O.C.), Chris Pratt (Everwood, Parks & Recreation), the criminally underappreciated Kyle Gallner (Veronica Mars), J.K. Simmons and Amy Sedaris.
I dare say the main reason people will either dislike, or not see, Jennifer’s Body is because it’s written by Diablo Cody. I think the main complaint about Diablo Cody is she tries too hard to make her dialogue creative and the vast majority of the time it’s a little too cute for it’s own good. The fact is that people don’t speak like the characters she writes, and whilst this is kinda the appeal of Diablo Cody for me, I can understand why people are turned off by her work. Whilst I’m not turned off by her work I do notice it, and sometimes it stretches even a little further than I’d like and it’s at this point that I’m taken out of the film. I’d say on balance there are more instances like this in Jennifer’s Body than Juno, but on the whole even these instances don’t ruin the film for me, they just act as a minor distraction. And in all honesty I’m not really sure why such vitriol has been directed towards Diablo Cody. Maybe those who don’t like her work or begrudge her success should simply not watch her films. That seems like a far more sensible thing to do than cover the internet in venom filled comments.
The great thing about Jennifer’s Body is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously and I really don’t think that it should be classified as a horror. In fact, I’m not even sure if should be classified as a comedy either because if anything it’s a hybrid of horror, comedy and parody. That might not be something that gets people into the cinema but it’s the closest approximation of what the film is. A prime example is the lesbian kissing scene. It was done almost as a wink to the audience and a nod to it’s 80′s horror movie roots. Everyone (at least all the guys) want Jennifer and Needy to kiss, so Diablo Cody was good enough to write it. It doesn’t really shape the story in any way, other than maybe highlighting the connection between Jennifer and Needy, but it’s another nod to the 80′s horror pedigree that it’s mocking/honouring.
Final mention should be made of the awesome Amanda Seyfried. Whilst she may not be doing the talk show rounds like Megan Fox she’s just as important a part of the film as anyone. Although she’s an absolute knockout she’s really dressed down in the film but still manages to be a beautiful captivating presence. As weird as it sounds, those eyes of hers are mesmerizing. I think I could probably watch a movie that just involved her staring at the screen for 90 minutes. I realise that’s an odd thing to say but it’s probably at least 60% true. That’s how much I love her.
RATING: 7/10
CONCLUSION
The special effects are average (but still vastly superior to Twilight), the story is nothing special, the dialogue is too cute for its own good at times, the twist ending (although I don’t actually think it’s meant to be a “twist ending”) is nothing special, it’s not particularly scary, and it’s not particularly funny. But you know what, none of that matters to me. The draw of Jennifer’s Body is the actors. That’s pretty much it. I love everyone in the film and the absolute main reason I wanted to see the film is because of all the actors in it. I’m glad it turned out to be exactly as I expected.
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