It just tries a little too hard. If the movie were a high school geek and the American audience were the prettiest cheerleader, this would not be a match.
I Love You, Beth Cooper (2009)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:109
Fresh:16
Rotten:93
Average Rating:3.5/10
Consensus: Heavily reliant on stereotypes and shallow teen comedy clichés, I Love You Beth Cooper is a humorless affair that fails to capture the charm of its source novel.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for crude and sexual content, language, some teen drinking and drug references, and brief violence.
Runtime: 1 hr 42 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Jul 10, 2009 Wide
Box Office: $14,706,744
Synopsis: I Love You, Beth Cooper chronicles the story of a nerdy valedictorian who proclaims his love for the hottest and most popular girl in school – Beth Cooper – during his graduation speech. Much to... I Love You, Beth Cooper chronicles the story of a nerdy valedictorian who proclaims his love for the hottest and most popular girl in school – Beth Cooper – during his graduation speech. Much to his surprise, Beth shows up at his door that very night and decides to show him the best night of his life. --© 20th Century Fox [More]
Starring: Hayden Panettiere, Paul Rust, Jack T. Carpenter, Lauren London
Starring: Hayden Panettiere, Paul Rust, Jack T. Carpenter, Lauren London, Lauren Storm, Shawn Roberts, Jared Keeso, Brendan Penny, Marie Avgeropoulos, Joshua Emerson, Alan Ruck, Cynthia Stevenson
Director: Chris Columbus
Director: Chris Columbus
Screenwriter: Larry Doyle
Producer: Chris Columbus, Mark Radcliffe, Michael Barnathan
Composer: Christophe Beck
Studio: Fox Atomic
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Reviews for I Love You, Beth Cooper
My problem with the film is that Larry Doyle (who also penned the screenplay) seems to have softened what his novel was fundamentally about.
Every time the story shows some glimmer of originality, it immediately retreats back to formula.
The story quickly -- and I mean quickly -- devolves into an unimaginative high school retread.
I Love You, Beth Cooper tries to exploit and explode broad stereotypes, but it never transcends the labels it applies.
The slapstick mucilage doesn't bind with the film's increasingly straightforward dramedy about Denis' epiphany that his dream girl is human.
Sign the pre-nup so you can get a refund at the box office. "I Love You, Beth Cooper" has a few moments, but mostly it fails to show us the love.
Takes the tiredest and most predictable elements,wrings out any authentic or appealing detail, and then drags out every single set-piece to the agonizing breaking point.
Panettiere, I’m sad to report, is a dud as the title character, a supposed wild thang who never rises above the level of runty, obnoxious mall chick, down to the roll-on tan.
Hayden Panettiere provokes many emotions as the title object of desire in Chris Columbus's dreadful teen romance. Love is not one of them.
Though one understands the desire to return to one’s roots, root rot is always a consideration.
Perhaps Columbus was involved in a hideous car accident recently that left him brain damaged, or maybe tragic senility is creeping up on the 51-year-old filmmaker. I refuse to believe he willingly created something this monstrously unfunny.
I know it's totally irresponsible and not even well constructed or performed, but it's so wrong I found it strangely compelling.
Mean-spirited and coarse with a shallow girl at its hollow heart, Beth Cooper is Superbad without the super.
This is what happens when the guy who directed two "Home Alone" movies collaborates with the screenwriter of "Looney Tunes: Back in Action."
With roles that seem tailor-made for Michael Cera and Jonah Hill, this nerd wish-fulfillment comedy reminded me of Superbad, though a more accurate title might be Sub-Bad.
The writer of I Love You, Beth Cooper says the story is based on a dream. I believe him. This is one of the very few movies where I wanted the hero to wake up and discover it was only a dream.
I Love You, Beth Cooper provides so few laughs I nearly wandered out of the theater midway to go look for some somewhere.
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