Jennifer’s Body
“Jennifer’s Body” starts off with a bit of a jolt. We see Anita “Needy” (Amanda Seyfried) in a woman’s correctional facility. She’s gotten gifts from religiousos and pervs.
She didn’t always to be this way. She used to be a normal high schooler from the unfortunately-named Devil’s Kettle with her boyfriend drummer Chip (Johnny Simmons) and BFF, the hottie cheerleader Jennifer (Megan Fox). But a night out leads to a bizarre series of happenings for the girls.
“Jennifer’s Body” is the second film written by “Juno’s” Oscar-winner Diablo Cody, a former stripper who had a keen ear for dialogue and, with the talented Jason Reitman directing, a sharp eye for character and story.
Here, without explanation, we see Jennifer go, well, pretty bat shit crazy after Anita sees her after a bar fire and she runs off with a band, only the next day at school to be completely normal.
The metaphor is pretty easy to figure- Jennifer is that man-eater in high school that’s all tease before she goes in for the kill. And in Cody’s script, that is literally.
The thing to know about “Jennifer’s Body” is that it’s more black comedy than straight-up horror. Don’t go looking to jump out of your skin more than you will seeing if your funny bone will get tickled a bit.
How much mileage you get will depend on where your sense of humor is at. Mine can get pretty bleak, but to be fair, it seemed more like Cody was interested in writing quirky dialogue for her one-idea horror-comedy, and hoping we’d laugh. But the best comedy comes from characters (in this case, J.K. Simmons as a science teacher stands out), as does the best drama (Seyfried is as wonderful at playing terrified as she is normal high school pleasure).
Still, Cody and director Karyn Kusama have some genuine surprises up their sleeves. There are some left-turns in how things progress that I didn’t see coming, which Fox plays with cool seductiveness and knowing “whatever” attitude. Her and Seyfried make a sexy and winning pair, but their film isn’t funny enough to work as a dark comedy, or scary enough to be true horror. At least it’s got some hot girl-on-girl action near the end…
