Jennifer’s Body

Three years ago the world (or great portions of it, anyway) clutched a pregnant 16-year-old to its collective bosom. Juno, the story of a baby having a baby, was one of those “sleeper hits” whose success was surprising only to those who were actually sleeping. It was sharp and funny and sincere and even moving, in its way – and much of those qualities were attributed to its script, packed with literate teen jargon pulled from the fertile mind of a neophyte screenwriter (and yes, former stripper) named Diablo Cody.

Juno made a star out of Ellen Page and gave Hollywood reason to respect the loins of Hollywood mainstay Ivan Reitman (whose son Jason directed the film), but more than anything it made those who were paying attention very, very interested in whatever Cody would do next. A voice as individual and energetic as the one she gave her pregnant-teen heroine was too ripe, too distinctive, to remain silent for long. Moviegoers wanted to hear what else she had to say.

Now Jennifer’s Body has arrived, with Cody’s words now emanating from Megan Fox’s pouty mouth, and all I can say is … pipe down, Diablo. This determinedly B-grade genre picture embraces its horror roots with gusto, and there’s a neat little story of girl power amid the gore. But the script is much too proud of itself: Its small-town teens can’t resist speaking in a hipster patois that sounds like the cast of The Breakfast Club eating eggs at Dorothy Parker’s Algonquin Round Table. Terrifying movies aren’t supposed to inspire the audience to wish they could crawl into the screen and strangle the characters to death themselves.

Look past the annoying teenspeak, however, and there’s something compelling about this Body. Fox and Amanda Seyfried play Jennifer and Anita (a.k.a. Needy), two lifelong friends currently doing time in high school in the teeny hick town of Devil’s Kettle. Jennifer and Needy couldn’t be more different: The former is ridiculously curvy, a Playboy centerfold in search of a staple for her navel; the latter is bespectacled and geeky and utterly ordinary (albeit by those warped Hollywood standards that allow someone as naturally luminous as Seyfried to be cast as a wallflower). Still, this odd couple has endured, resisting cliques and boyfriend pressures to maintain an unlikely bond that even the fractious high school experience can’t break.

The BFFs find their biggest challenge one night at a local dive bar, where they’ve come to listen to Low Shoulder, a struggling indie band from the big city. Jennifer can’t take her eyes off lead singer Nikolai (Adam Brody), despite being warned by Needy that she overheard him refer to Jennifer as just another low-class conquest. But a fire breaks out, and Jennifer, disoriented, is escorted by Nikolai into the band’s van … only to emerge significantly changed. To quote Darryl Hall, Watch out boys, she’ll chew you up.

Body’s director, Karyn Kusama (Girlfight), knows how to tap into the primal energy – emotional and physical – of young women, and she and Cody have tapered this tale to a keen edge. As Needy tries to come to grips with the notion that her best friend is now a boy-munching demon, her dueling loyalties are gripping (and even convincing – no small feat with this kind of fantastic material). Jennifer, too, is something of a marvel, a preening narcissist becomes a slutty villainess taking collective revenge on the male species, and yet it’s tough not to root for her, after a fashion.

Seyfried (Mamma Mia and TV’s Big Love) is terrific as Needy, a girlfriend whose loyalty pushes her to grow and commit as a person (even if by horror movie standards). On the other hand, after little more than two Transformers movies on her resume, Fox is best known for her ability to wear cutoff shorts. It would be nice to say that Jennifer’s Body has showcased her range, but in reality the movie seems more built for her proven talents than as an opportunity for her to expose new ones. (The title, quite literally, is the star of the movie.) This is not necessarily a big deal, as the movies need plump-lipped sexpots as much as Oscar-winning actresses. But while this film may well close the book on the question of Fox’s potential, it still leaves the issue of Cody’s talent unresolved. For us to know whether she’s a one-trick pony, she needs to write a movie about grown-ups – preferably of the non-sassy variety.

Erich Van Dussen is Managing Editor of Rochester Film Journal. Contact him at info@rochesterfilm.com.