SNMR 8.3: "I Love You, Beth Cooper"

GREEN'S BLOODY TAMPON REVIEW:

Geeky Buffalo Glen High School senior class valedictorian Denis Cooverman (Paul Rust) doesn't want to regret anything from high school before he graduates. So what does he do? He centers his graduation speech around those words, pronouncing that "I love you, Beth Cooper" much to the embarrassment of Beth Cooper (Hayden Panettiere) the most popular girl in school, who also happens to be the head cheerleader. His speech also namelessly calls out several other classmates, and they are not happy about it, especially Beth's boyfriend Kevin (Shawn Roberts).

When Beth and her two best friends, Cammy (Lauren London) and Treece (Lauren Storm), decide it would be funny to attend Denis' and his best friend Rich (Jack T. Carpenter) graduation party, the fun begins.

I borrowed this movie from the library so I could watch it and I ended up letting my kids watch it on a recent weekend and I watched it with them. I liked it better than I thought I would, now having seen it a total of three times.

The cast is a good and diverse group of characters, a la The Breakfast Club and share a good camaraderie. You can tell that they had a fun time making the movie not only from the actors performances but also from the clips of interviews provided in the extras.

As one who liked to quote movies in my younger years (I still do), I got a kick out of Rich, Carpenter's movie quoting character, but I never added year and director to them as he did. I wasn't that neurotic about it.

The DVD includes an alternate ending which isn't really alternate, but a ten minute scene that was edited out of the theatrical release. Without this "alternate ending" some of the story of the movie would have been incomplete. If I had watched this movie in the theater I would have told you that something was missing at the end.

This movie will probably never reach the level of the iconic teen films of the late John Hughes, but it gives a valiant effort. Chris Columbus seems to have taken over - willingly or not - the mantle left by Hughes and does it quite well. The movie is based on the novel of the same name by Larry Doyle, who also wrote the screenplay, which I always maintain helps to yield a better end product. At the time I watched this movie I hadn't read the novel but since then I happened to see it on the discount rack for under $5 at Barnes & Noble, and bought it. As I was reading I was picturing the scenes from the movie and imagining how scenes from the book that aren't in the movie might have been filmed.

Yes, the story is full of cliches and typical teen movie antics and stuff but that's what it's all about. Far from being the most popular kid in high school, but also being far from the Valedictorian, I can appreciate the idea of the unpopular kid attracting the interest of the most popular girl in school.

***½ out of *****

I Love You, Beth Cooper (2009, PG-13, 102 minutes), starring Hayden Panettiere, Paul Rust, Jack T. Carpenter, Lauren London, Lauren Storm, Shawn Roberts, Alan Ruck and Cynthia Stevenson. Based on the novel by Larry Doyle. Screenplay by Larry Doyle. Directed by Chris Columbus.