Amazon Holiday

Friday, July 10, 2009

I Love You, Beth Cooper

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: The nerdy high school Valedictorian (Paul Rust) professes his love to the head cheerleader (Hayden Panettiere) during his commencement speech, and before he knows it, they are spending their celebratory graduation night getting to know each other.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Paul Rust, Hayden Panettiere, Jack T. Carpenter, Lauren London, Lauren Storm, Shawn Roberts, Alan Ruck, Cynthia Stevenson, Andrea Savage,

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: PhotobucketStop! This is the kind of movie that's only enjoyable when you accidentally catch it on cable television sometime between 2 and 4 in the morning, because it's light, cheesy, and unoriginal, and if you fall asleep watching it, you won't wake up wondering what you've missed.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Yes, but not because it's funny. More because you're uncomfortable with how bad it is.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: If you paid full price for it at the movie theater, like I did, it might. After all, we are in a recession, and money is not to be wasted.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Unfortunately, it's not quite high profile enough to be noticed by the Razzies.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Some of the worst I've seen in a professional movie since the 80s. The actors, in particular Panettiere and her supposed boyfriend, played by Shawn Roberts, glare, and they stare, and they blow the house down. And I mean: blow! You actually feel bad for Cynthia Stevenson and Alan Ruck, who are quite good in their small roles, as the parents. Paul Rust does a decent job, too, in a role that was obviously written for Michael Cera, but he is no Michael Cera, and you leave the theater wishing he had been, because Michael Cera is magic. And he would've been the only chance this movie had of coming out from under this red light.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Certainly nowhere near the best work of Chris Columbus, especially when you consider Mrs. Doubtfire, Home Alone, and discovering America.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: I spent most of the movie wondering how this script got greenlit. Was I just being bitter, because this same studio had passed on a script of mine, in the same genre, that was clearly funnier, more inventive, and better constructed? In my effort not to play the part of the ugly, angry screenwriter who's been scorned, I chose not to say anything out loud. So I was relieved and vindicated when we left the theater, and my friend, Ondrea, who is not even in show business, asked me "How can a movie like that get financed, when people like you are writing stuff that's so much better?" It was completely unsolicited. I swear to God. So I guess you really don't need over 10 years of experience in this business to know how messed up it is.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/i-love-you-beth-cooper/32640/trailers

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6 comments:

Farzan said...

I had a feeling the film was going to suck. I glanced over at its rotten tomatoes meter and never thought about this movie again. Almost every critic is hating on this film. Shame really because I was interested in seeing this because of Hayden Panettiere, but even shes not that hot for me to spend money on this crap.

Monique said...

I try not to look at other reviews before I go, and especially not if I'm going opening night or before... But yeah, I guess if I were going later, I would look too, and the tomato meter was terrible. Although I also think a lot of the tomato reviewers are completely out of touch with audiences... In this case, I guess not.
Hayden Panettiere is totally not worth it. She kind of sucks at comedy-- this is the second time I've seen her in one and not liked her. The first being Bring It On 2. All that to say, good call!

Reel Whore said...

I want to see this, but had planned on waiting for the second run show for a $1.50. Sounds like I would still pay too much! It couldn't possibly be worse than Miss March. That's the worst POS comedy I've seen in a long time.

What ever happened with your script? Maybe it's time to shop it around again?

Monique said...

Thanks for asking about my script, ReelWhore. It's still out to some places and there's a great actress who's interested in playing the lead. She's not as famous as Hayden (yet), but she is cuter and funnier, so there's still a lot of hope!

Unfortunately, when crappy bombs like this one come out, it doesn't help my cause at all, because the studios will blame the genre, instead of blaming the fact that it's a poorly conceived movie with bad word of mouth.

I didn't see Miss March, but I'll take it on your word that I should keep it that way.

Reel Whore said...

I'll keep my fingers crossed for your script prospects.

It is a sad statement that the studios would sooner blame the genre or an audience's receptiveness to a genre instead of considering that one or more of the key components (script, cast, director, etc) might be more to blame.

I guess I can look forward to all these things if I ever finish one of my script ideas.

Monique said...

Thanks for the well wishes. And good luck with your script! you can do it!