The only prerequisite that I had for this trip to Toronto I have embarked on is that I got to go to the movies. Forget sightseeing and shopping, I just wanted to get my fix of popcorn and fuzzy peaches. We had a copy of the "Jennifer's Body" script in the cd store I work in, and I will shamefully confess that I read at least half of it when I should have been working. I really enjoyed Diablo Cody's previous accomplishment with "Juno" before it became so big that it almost joined the ranks of "Napoleon Dynamite". You know, when everyone loves it so hard, they squeeze all the good out of it by ceaslessly playing kimaya dawson songs and talking about how much they want a hamburger phone. So I cornered my beloved cousin Erika ( a budding filmmaker), gripping her with white knuckles and I told her firmly that we NEED to go to the movies. Okay, maybe not but I did lean in a little when I suggested that we go, to make her uncomfortable enough to conceed. And so we headed to the Fairview Mall Silvercity to enjoy some gorey goodness.
I am really far too wussy to ever enjoy horror movies but all the TIFF related articles had many conflicting and interesting things to say about this film so I figured I had better buck up and take it. Fortunately this film was not very scary at all, disgusting at times YES but not scary. You could kind of tell how things were going to play out so there wasn't a ton of suspense. But that wasn't where this movie shone. Like Cody's predecessing film, this movie was witty, fast, catchy and funny. Forget the gorey murders of multiple boys, the banter between BFFS Needy and Jennifer was hilarious.
I wasn't expecting much from Meghan Fox since the only frame of reference I have for her is her shining physique leaning over a very masculine/phallic motorcyle in the "Transformers" preview. But I can't imagine Cody's scripts are easy to wrap one's mouth around. Her dialoge is fast and sharp; if presented incorrectly the jokes could fall flat and it would be awkward and terrible. But Fox held her own, I'm not sure how much versitility she possesses as an actress so I'm going to assume this role was just built for someone like her.
Amanda Seyfried is one of my favorite young actresses so I was expecting her to be awesome and she was. I've seen her play characters similar to Jennifer in other productions so it was great to see her in another role. I loved how Cody illustrated the complexity of the relationships between girls in highschool. Every girl feels animosity towards her BFF in highschool because girls often compete with one another leaving one as a the dominant in the relationship and one as the submissive. Cody really captured the ambivolence Needy feels towards Jennifer and the competitive side of Jennifer.
I thought the film was vibrant, intense, witty and enjoyable. I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone who is looking for a true horror movie because I get scared of "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" and this film failed to illicit even a jump. I would recommend this film to any girls who want to watch a movie where girls are badass and boys are just man-meat. I would recommend this movie to anyone who loves Megan Fox because the girl looks hot even with black gooey shit all over her.
*I can't help but analyze this film so this next section will be spoilerific*
Maybe I'm reaching here but I saw a sort of doppleganger theme here between the two girls. The sort of represent two halves of the same person. To put it simply, Needy is the virgin and Jennifer is the whore. Needy definately adores Jennifer in a "more than friends" kind of way. And it is curious that Jennifer murders only boys. When Needy consumates her relationship with her boyfriend Chip, she has a violent reaction to the sex as she suffers from gruesome visions. Then the famous make out occurs between the Bffs which is followed by Jennifer murdering Needy's boyfriend. Once Needy's heterosexual partner is removed from the picture she finds the strength to go kick Jennifer's ass. She attacks Jennifer in her BEDROOM where the tussle on the bed (Jennifer is in her KNICKERS) and Needy ultimately penetrates Jennifer with a knife, killing her. But not before Jennifer bites her, instilling her with some of her power. Needy ultimately could be seen as consumating her relationship with Jennifer allowing the two to become one person, essentially Needy becomes a lot more powerful and badass. Gender theorists could have a hayday with this one.
