I Love You, Beth Cooper (2009)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Chris Columbus

Writers (WGA):

Larry Doyle (screenplay)
Larry Doyle (novel)

Release Date:

10 July 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Five Little Words Can Change Your Life

Plot:

A nerdy valedictorian 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. |

Plot Keywords:

Valedictorian | High School Graduation | Embarrassment | Cow Tipping | Punctuation In Title

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Hayden Panettiere	...	Beth Cooper
Paul Rust	...	Denis Cooverman
Jack Carpenter	...	Rich Munsch (as Jack T. Carpenter)
Lauren London	...	Cammy Alcott
Lauren Storm	...	Treece Kilmer
Shawn Roberts	...	Kevin
Jared Keeso	...	Dustin
Brendan Penny	...	Sean
Marie Avgeropoulos	...	Valli Wooley
Josh Emerson	...	Greg Saloga
Alan Ruck	...	Mr. Cooverman
Cynthia Stevenson	...	Mrs. Cooverman
Pat Finn	...	Coach Raupp
Andrea Savage	...	Dr. Gleason
Violet Columbus	...	Sullen Girl (Angelica)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content, language, some teen drinking and drug references, and brief violence.

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby | DTS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #45026) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | USA:R (uncut version) | Singapore:NC-16 | Ireland:15A | New Zealand:R16 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Germany:12 | UK:15 | Finland:K-11

Filming Locations:

Golden Ears Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Fox Atomic

Trivia:

In the afterword to the book this film was based on, author Larry Doyle admitted he initially conceived this story as a movie. When he was unable to generate interest, he published the story as a novel. It subsequently generated enough popularity to spark interest in adapting it for film, and Doyle was invited to write the screenplay.

Goofs:

Factual errors: If LoJack was in Kevin's H2, the police would've been there with them since LoJack is traceable only by police. Besides, an H2 Hummer would most likely have OnStar, not LoJack.

Quotes:

[from trailer]
Beth Cooper: [to Denis] Still love me?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Spike's Guys Choice (2009) (TV)

Some good moments, but very uneven comedy

Valedictorian Dennis Cooverman takes his opportunity during his speech at Graduation, to declare his love for Beth Cooper, the head cheerleader. So when she and her friends show up at his house after, he's ecstatic Unfortunately, he irate boyfriend Kevin doesn't take well to this and other things said in the speech, resulting in a wild night all over town...

There are some good things here. Hayden Panettiere, as Beth Cooper gives a pretty good performance, although her character isn't that much of a stretch from her character in Heroes. The best performance is actually from Jack Carpenter as Dennis's best friend (who may or may not be gay). In fact he's even better when you consider a lot of his lines are quoting other movies. He somehow gets away with it, even though it does get annoying at times.

Chris Colombus and Larry Doyle (who wrote the novel this is based on, and the screenplay too), have created a movie that while it does have moments such as the wet towel fight scene, staged like a proper duel being one, and a very sweet if unexpected ending being another, can't decide what they are trying to make. It does have moments that remind you of John Hughes movies in some of the dialogue, but some of the humour doesn't work at all.

And that is a shame. Had the humour worked through-out, then this might have been as good as American Pie, or Superbad perhaps. Sadly however, like a lot of movies aimed at teens, it doesn't quite work and may be forgotten as soon as you leave the cinema.