Friday
18Sep2009
Movie Review - 'Jennifer's Body'
Friday, September 18, 2009 at 3:45AM | Jennifer's Body
Starring Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, and Johnny Simmons  |
It can and has been argued that the first influential slasher movies and the zombie flicks that set that sub-genre in
motion were metaphors. Friday the 13th warned against the promiscuity of teenagers and Night of the Living Dead was a cautionary tale of
consumerism. Jennifer's Body could be a metaphor for the all-too-destructive world of high school, seen through the eyes of the haves - in this case, Jennifer Check
(Megan Fox) - and the
have-nots, embodied by Needy Lesnicky (Amanda
Seyfried).
Whether or not writer Diablo Cody (the Juno Oscar winner) means this tale to be allegorical doesn't matter. It works that way and more literally as a horror
comedy. True, it isn't always successful, usually a by-product of some questionable pacing employed by director Karyn Kusama, but on the
whole, Jennifer's Body gets where it's supposed to go, and we go fairly willingly along for the ride.
Despite what appear to be wide extremes separating them, Jennifer and Needy are best friends forever (abbreviated as BFFs on the girls' lockets and
pronounced "Biffs"). Jennifer is the cheerleader all the boys want and all the girls want to be. In fact, outside of Needy - for Seyfried herself is
very pretty, but is obviously dressed down here for effect - Jennifer is the only really attractive girl we see in the movie. That can't be accidental.
And while Jennifer is everything, Needy - as her name suggests - is next to nothing, at least in the crippling and petty worlds of teenage social
strata.
The friends attend a local concert at which Jennifer seems hypnotized by the dreamy lead singer (Adam Brody). A fire breaks out at the venue and seeking "safety,"
Jennifer drives off in the van with the entire band. Needy returns home alone but is visited later that night by her friend Jennifer, bloodied, beaten,
hungry, looking possessed. There's no good explanation for it, especially the next day when Jennifer is at school as beautiful and playful as ever.
"Where's it at, Monistat," she jokingly asks Needy in science class the morning after.
Soon after, high school boys start dying and you, like Needy, can put the pieces together.
The beauty-is-only-skin-deep moral has been marched out hundreds of times, but never quite like this. With Diablo Cody's wicked writing and the macabre
story, the message does have a little bit of impact if you're looking for something beneath the surface. Cody's writing is extremely unique, and she
slashes her way through screenplays with hipster comments and half-rhymes. There are times that it gets in the way and times that her style truly
elevates the scene. Kind of a wash, really.
Reader Comments (5)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSymGHqbZhA
Megan Fox tribute
Okay, I'll watch it.
i bet Megan Fox's popularity will shrivel down to almost nothing within the next few months; better than average looks can only get you so far
Your just a fat jealous scumbag sorry u were born ugly Megan was born hot im sorry
I've been waiting for this movie for so long but it didn't satisfy me after watching. It's boring and story doesn't get my interest.