Review: Jennifer's Body
Sorry it has been so long. Haven't had time to type during the final days before Christmas and my computer is unavailable to me due to a broken power cord. So I am waiting on that. I am typing from my mother's computer which is pretty slow and does not motivate me to write full length reviews for each film I have seen but slowly I will attempt to over the next several days. I still have most of the Oscar films to see. I am not sure when I will do that since I am getting my wisdom teeth taken out tomorrow and will be in recovery for the next few days. Fun fun fun.
Jennifer's Body (2009) 4/10
On a subjective level, Jennifer's Body is entertaining through and through. However, the film suffers from many flaws, big ones I might add, which force the black comedy horror flick to be categorized as one of lost potential.
First and foremost Jennifer's Body should have played it straight. By having screenwriter Diablo Cody's dialogue overshadow everything, it eventually becomes distracting. This screenplay is nowhere near as strong as Juno and without the strong story and director Jason Reitman controlling everything, this Cody screenplay comes off as something trying too hard to become a cult hit. Playing it straight would have cancelled out any Heathers comparisons with the dark comedy element being more subdued and it would have allowed for a much more challenging horror film that explores the different kinds of relationships and friendships between females. This is not to say the film does not take itself seriously; it does. Cody mentioned in an interview once that her intention was to make Jennifer's Body a serious film but she could not resist putting her own touch onto everything and then it became what it is. This accounts for the mish mash of elements the audience are supposed to take seriously and elements the audience are not supposed to take seriously.
Another problem with the film is that as a horror film, it fails. It is simply not scary and while there are a few suspenseful moments, overall it fails to create any kind of terror within the viewer. The scenes in which Jennifer seduces her victims are all essentially the same scene except there is no payoff because the moment that the gross out moments are supposed to take place, the film cuts away despite the film's R rating which can be attributed almost solely for the use of swearing.
The supposed 'feminist' message of the film gets completely lost with the character of Jennifer. Another major change that should have been made within the screenplay is that the film should have been equally focused on Jennifer as a character as it is with the Needy character. Megan Fox as Jennifer ends up becoming just as much of an object as she is in the Transformers series. The film should have been told equally from both points of view because this would have allowed for Fox to actually be playing a character instead of someone who, while close to being a character (there are hints of development which never pay off), is never given the development or space to become anything more than another objectification to the viewer.
The soundtrack adds an immature and very uncool vibe to the proceedings. I would have hoped that Cody could have pulled off something better than this in the music choice. I sincerely hope this was not her decision. To make it even worse, the film ends with "Violet" by Hole, a great song which led to the realization that Jennifer's Body should have been filled with 90's alt rock similar to that of Hole. A wasted oppurtunity to be sure.
The film's major success though is in the character of Needy both in development and in performance by Amanda Seyfried. Seyfried does take herself and the character very seriously and it does pay off because anything involving Needy is the only completely stable element of the film. This is the one area in Cody and director Karyn Kursama's feminist approach get right. They give us a female protagonist in a horror film who functions as a relatable and most importantly developed character who is recognizable as a girl that could actually exist. Seyfried lends her remarkable talents and single handedly holds this film together and actually makes it worth seeing. Her relationship with her boyfriend Chip is refreshing and done with a lot of care. If only they had a film to support them.
There are elements that work though. The film is entertaining which is admirable enough and it does get the tone right quite a bit despite the many times it does not. Cody's dialgogue also works often and the first half hour shows the most potential in the film and could be its strongest section.
Jennifer's Body is a thoroughly entertaining but ultimately misguided attempt to create a feminist horror film despite the elements it succeeds in such as the character of Needy, her development, Seyfried's performance and the depiction of her relationship with Chip. Instead of making a black comedy desperate to be a cult hit, Cody and Kursama should have focused on creating a serious horror film that challenged our perceptions and explored female friendships. By taking itself more seriously and focusing on Jennifer, her struggle and submission to her transformation into a succubus as much as the film focuses on Needy, the film could have been great instead of having Megan Fox function as being an object almost as much as she is in Transformers. This failure needs to be attributed to Cody's screenplay and not to Fox who actually does a decent job as Jennifer despite the insults everyone else hurled at her in reference to this performance. All in all Jennifer's Body should be looked at this way; a film with lost potential is better than a film with no potential at all even if the former situation is much more upsetting and disappointing.
Jennifer's Body (2009) 4/10
On a subjective level, Jennifer's Body is entertaining through and through. However, the film suffers from many flaws, big ones I might add, which force the black comedy horror flick to be categorized as one of lost potential.
First and foremost Jennifer's Body should have played it straight. By having screenwriter Diablo Cody's dialogue overshadow everything, it eventually becomes distracting. This screenplay is nowhere near as strong as Juno and without the strong story and director Jason Reitman controlling everything, this Cody screenplay comes off as something trying too hard to become a cult hit. Playing it straight would have cancelled out any Heathers comparisons with the dark comedy element being more subdued and it would have allowed for a much more challenging horror film that explores the different kinds of relationships and friendships between females. This is not to say the film does not take itself seriously; it does. Cody mentioned in an interview once that her intention was to make Jennifer's Body a serious film but she could not resist putting her own touch onto everything and then it became what it is. This accounts for the mish mash of elements the audience are supposed to take seriously and elements the audience are not supposed to take seriously.
Another problem with the film is that as a horror film, it fails. It is simply not scary and while there are a few suspenseful moments, overall it fails to create any kind of terror within the viewer. The scenes in which Jennifer seduces her victims are all essentially the same scene except there is no payoff because the moment that the gross out moments are supposed to take place, the film cuts away despite the film's R rating which can be attributed almost solely for the use of swearing.
The supposed 'feminist' message of the film gets completely lost with the character of Jennifer. Another major change that should have been made within the screenplay is that the film should have been equally focused on Jennifer as a character as it is with the Needy character. Megan Fox as Jennifer ends up becoming just as much of an object as she is in the Transformers series. The film should have been told equally from both points of view because this would have allowed for Fox to actually be playing a character instead of someone who, while close to being a character (there are hints of development which never pay off), is never given the development or space to become anything more than another objectification to the viewer.
The soundtrack adds an immature and very uncool vibe to the proceedings. I would have hoped that Cody could have pulled off something better than this in the music choice. I sincerely hope this was not her decision. To make it even worse, the film ends with "Violet" by Hole, a great song which led to the realization that Jennifer's Body should have been filled with 90's alt rock similar to that of Hole. A wasted oppurtunity to be sure.
The film's major success though is in the character of Needy both in development and in performance by Amanda Seyfried. Seyfried does take herself and the character very seriously and it does pay off because anything involving Needy is the only completely stable element of the film. This is the one area in Cody and director Karyn Kursama's feminist approach get right. They give us a female protagonist in a horror film who functions as a relatable and most importantly developed character who is recognizable as a girl that could actually exist. Seyfried lends her remarkable talents and single handedly holds this film together and actually makes it worth seeing. Her relationship with her boyfriend Chip is refreshing and done with a lot of care. If only they had a film to support them.
There are elements that work though. The film is entertaining which is admirable enough and it does get the tone right quite a bit despite the many times it does not. Cody's dialgogue also works often and the first half hour shows the most potential in the film and could be its strongest section.
Jennifer's Body is a thoroughly entertaining but ultimately misguided attempt to create a feminist horror film despite the elements it succeeds in such as the character of Needy, her development, Seyfried's performance and the depiction of her relationship with Chip. Instead of making a black comedy desperate to be a cult hit, Cody and Kursama should have focused on creating a serious horror film that challenged our perceptions and explored female friendships. By taking itself more seriously and focusing on Jennifer, her struggle and submission to her transformation into a succubus as much as the film focuses on Needy, the film could have been great instead of having Megan Fox function as being an object almost as much as she is in Transformers. This failure needs to be attributed to Cody's screenplay and not to Fox who actually does a decent job as Jennifer despite the insults everyone else hurled at her in reference to this performance. All in all Jennifer's Body should be looked at this way; a film with lost potential is better than a film with no potential at all even if the former situation is much more upsetting and disappointing.
Horrorphile