Friday Night Frights: Jennifer’s Body DVD Review

In the small rural community of Devil’s Kettle, “Needy” (Amanda Seyfried) recounts her tale from a solitary confinement cell of the events that recently unfolded, ending with her being imprisoned for murder. Needy’s best friend Jennifer (Megan Fox) was the exact opposite of Needy. She was beautiful, outgoing and loved to party. Needy on the other hand had a deep love for her best friend and went everywhere with her, even when it meant putting her boyfriend Chip (Johnny Simmons) on the back burner. One night, while attending a Low Shoulder concert, the venue catches on fire and the two girls escape out of a bathroom window. Outside, Jennifer unwisely leaves with the guys from the band, who have also emerged unscathed. At home Needy, worried for her friend gets a late night visit from a bloodied, battered Jennifer, who is not herself. This is where things start to get weird.

Jennifer’s Body has a decent plot premise that is lost between bad dialogue, unexplained plot points and goofy moments. Megan Fox’s character does not come across believably at all but I do not blame her for this. The lines she is fed throughout the film as she struggles to play a teenager seem to be written solely in an attempt to come up with the new catchphrase. No teenagers talk like this and none have started to do so after watching the film. Not every line of dialogue can be fortune cookie material or the new valleyspeak. Amanda Seyfried’s character fares much better despite a few goofy lines. My only dislike of her character was the inability to make a decision. For a character who is the smart, nerdy girl, Needy is content to stand around wide eyed until someone tells her what to do next, even when it costs lives. Not a major point but an inconsistancy worth noting. It was nice to see an appearance by Bill Fagerbakke but once again his vengence dialogue destroys the scene he is given.

My biggest issue with the movie other than the unbearable dialogue and idiotic Tommy Tu-tone moment was the fact that we are told that Needy and Jennifer share a psychic bond, it is convenient at points in the film, however it is never expounded upon or explained at all. That is just sloppy writing and taking an easy out by not explaining the “why”.

In the end, a decent plot for a horror movie that should be a sure thing is rendered unwatchable by a horrible script and mediocre performances. Unsure whether to be a to be a comedic horror film or a comedy with horror themes, it ended up being a horribly unfunny mess. Don’t believe the hype folks, Cody Diablo destroyed this film with nonsense dialogue and out of place attempts at humor that are not funny. Unless you count her back, Jennifer’s body is left to the imagination so the leaked images on the internet during filming are more revealing than anything in the movie itself. There are some great dvds and Blu Rays coming out next week, unfortunately this is not one of them.

Avoid It

Jennifer’s Body is available on DVD and Blu Ray beginning on December 29th, 2009, courtesy of Fox Home Entertainment.