"Jennifer‘s Body" is the movie that, apparently, is every teenage boy‘s fantasy: take Megan Fox, sexualise her to within an inch of her life, throw in some horror, sharp one–liners and more pop culture references than an episode of Skins and hey presto, the cinemas are filled with skinny jeans and straightened hair.
Fox plays Jennifer Check, the sexy high school cheerleader and object of every boy‘s desires whose best friend is plain Jane, Needy (Amanda Seyfried). After the two lifelong friends go to a gig to see a band where the venue burns down, Jennifer deserts Needy for a night with the band. Jennifer arrives at Needy‘s door later that night and she has undergone a terrifying transformation.
When the bloodied remains of high school boys keep turning up at regular intervals, it becomes clear to Needy that Jennifer is behind the murders. Discovering that nobody is willing to believe her, it‘s up to the girl seen as Jennifer‘s sidekick to stop her erstwhile best friend from devouring any more of her classmates.
Diablo Cody, the Oscar–winning writer of "Juno" is the woman behind this script and it‘s full of Cody–esque flourishes. Whether it‘s the knowing slang or quirky comedy, Cody‘s fingerprints are all over this script, and, for the most part, it‘s a pleasure to see her back. Though some may feel it is more style than substance, the script is not what prevents "Jennifer‘s Body" from being the overwhelming success it could have been.
Unlike the title character, director Karyn Kusama seems to have bitten off more than she could chew with "Jennifer‘s Body". In parts it is very funny, witty and, even occasionally, tense and scary; however, it is never consistently any of these things and becomes a victim of its own ambition. It lacks cohesion and, like Jennifer herself, feels shallow. Still, Megan Fox proves that she can act, while Amanda Seyfried steals the show. There are even extremely noteworthy supporting roles from Adam Brody and J.K. Simmons, but ultimately, "Jennifer‘s Body" is not scary enough to be a horror or funny enough to be a comedy and leaves the audience feeling unsatisfied.
