TIFF ’09: Jennifer’s Body

Jennifer’s Body

Directed by Karyn Kusama

Jennifer’s Body lands at TIFF carrying with it huge expectations. Diablo Cody returns with her first script since her Oscar -winning Juno, along with director Karyn Kusama (Girlfight), making this a hotly anticipated team up – a fresh change in the male-dominated world of horror cinema. In addition, starlet Megan Fox marks her first high-profile role outside the Transformers films in hopes of proving that her acting skills match up to her looks.

Fox plays the titular Jennifer, a sexy she-devil and popular captain of the high school cheerleading squad who transforms into a blood sucking teenage tramp thanks to a Satan-worshiping sacrifice by the hands of touring indie rock group Low Shoulder. Led by lead singer Nikolai (Adam Brody), the band hopes that the sacrifice will bring them success, only their amateurish ways and little experience in the occult sends the ritual in a different direction.

Megan Fox is, if nothing else, aptly cast as the drop dead gorgeous bombshell every guy wants to date and every girl wants to be. While her performance doesn’t call out for anything which is a far cry from her everyday life (save for vomiting oil and hovering in mid air) she is legitimately good playing bad, consistently hitting the right tone and delivering Cody’s snark-driven brand of humor. Fox certainly has the physical attributes required as the prom queen type but she also manages to deliver a convincingly dark and evil demeanor. Unfortunately for her, Fox will ultimately be overshadowed by her co-star, Amanda Seyfried who shines bright as Needy, the mousy, nerdy, insecure girl who is Jennifer’s best friend. If Jennifer is the Veronica, Needy is the Betty. In fact, Seyfried’s character (and strong performance) is the true focal point of the film, making one wonder why Jennifer got title dibs. The rest of the cast (save for Adam Brody who shows no real comic flair as Low Shoulder’s frontman) do their best with what they are given. Unfortunately, one of the letdowns of the female director-female writer team-up is that they deliver a film in which all male roles are underdeveloped. Still Johnny Simmon, playing Needy’s boyfriend Chip, carries his role nicely, dishing out some of the film’s finest lines, and J.K. Simmons (who is always fun to watch) sports an amusing cameo.

The movie does work as a comedy (despite being a bit too self-conscious and calculated) but it fails miserably as a horror film. Cody is not entirely at fault here – it quickly becomes clear that Kusama hasn’t the slightest clue how to direct in the genre. The scares are scarce and the gore is light, making you wonder how it secured an R rating. The violence in the movie is too cartoonish to take seriously, and the lack of ambiance and tension left the audience without a startle. The only scene possibly resembling “disturbing” is a make out session between Fox and Seyfried, which serves absolutely no purpose. Although Kusama tries to make it a hybrid, postmodern movie, she fails in bringing any originality to the genre and more importantly fails in presenting a convincing horror flick.

Cody’s script demonstrates her knack for quirky dialogue and cool catch phrases, and Jennifer delivers some clever lines, while Needy’s initial response to Jennifer’s actions is charming. Although the characters riff on teen movie stereotypes, the goal is clearly to poke fun at industry clichés and the American teenage lifestyle. After all, American teens are clichés and they typically follow trends in search of their own identity. It’s clear that Cody, like John Hughes before her, knows how to address her young characters properly on screen, but unlike Hughes, Cody’s need to shoehorn every pop-culture reduction that she possibly can, becomes a bit tedious and somewhat superficial. Even worse is that Kusama is unsure how best to parody them. Their ideas, although fun, serve as a stand-in for actual storytelling and character development, and ultimately Jennifer’s Body substitutes hipster credibility for any emotional feel.

Somewhat intriguing, funny at times and in some ways refreshing despite its flaws, Jennifer’s Body is  more accurate in its representation of teenage girls than it is in examining them and delivering any thought provoking social commentary.

Ricky D

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