Monday, September 09, 2024

My Review of Jennifer's Body (2009)

 


Written by Diablo Cody
Directed by Karen Kusama

Needy: "You know what? You were never really a good friend. Even when we were little, you used to steal my toys and pour lemonade on my bed."
Jennifer: "And now, I'm eating your boyfriend. See? At least I'm consistent."

Another movie that was on my to rewatch pile was this late entry from the 2000s that had two very charismatic leads and was a highschool story involving two very unlikely friends that became a right horror show.

The unlikely friends being between popular colour flag spinner Jennifer Check (Megan Fox) and the nerdy Anita "Needy" Lesnicki (Amanda Seyfried). It's a friendship that's even pointed out by other characters, like Needy's boyfriend Chip (Johnny Simmons) as being off and that shouldve been a red fkag about Needy and Jennifer.

That as well as the fact that this movie actually began with Needy in a prison where she's rather violent towards a new staff member trying to help her. Anyways back to the setting of the story, there was an indie group named Low Shoulder, led by Nikolai Wolf (Adam Brody) and said group had designs on Jennifer.

Yeah, the band turned out to be devil worshippers and falsely assumed that Jennifer was a virgin. An assumption that initially worked to their advantage but also saw something of a ravenous transformation in Jennifer herself. She might not be able to eat a rotisserie chicken without vomiting but a taste for human flesh certainly seems to have an entirely different effect on her.

Needless to say, Jennifer's whole new demeanor and zest for life saw her very indifferent towards fellow students being killed in a fire when she wasn't devouring poor Colin (Kyle Gallner). Then there was trying to snack on Chip. Whatever friendship Jennifer and Needy had definitely went out the window by the end of the movie.

The friendship between Jennifer and Needy was the driving force behind the movie with both Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried delivering immensely on that front. There's an underlying tension between both characters that certainly transcended friendship as Needy's action beyond their dynamic certainly attested to.

- In a post credit scene, Needy avenged Jennifer by killing Low Shoulder in their hotel room.
- J.K. Simmons had a very funny part as teacher Mr Wroblewski. Chris Pratt even pops up as a cop who Jennifer was fooling around with.
- Standout music: Black Kids I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You, Foreigner's Urgent and Florence And The Machine's Kiss With A Fist.
- Chronology: The movie's set in the fictional town of Devil's Kettle, Minnesota.

Well, I had a lot of fun with Jennifer's Body. An excellent teen comedy with the right amount of horror, a good commentary and excellent performances from both Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried. Some of the dialogue also really packed a punch. 

Rating: 8 out of 10 

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