Review of Jennifer's Body (2009) by Andrew P — 04 Dec 2011

Clearly this is a movie that polarizes opinion, but I'd urge anyone with a taste for black comedy to give Jennifer's Body a chance. Having finally seen it, I enjoyed myself so much that I was left a little mystified that so many people seem to hate it.

Let's be straight about this, Jennifer's Body isn't awards material, but neither is it trying to be. It's a deliberately cheesy and darkly comic movie that definitely harks back similar movies from the 80s. Some of the darkest parts of the movie had me stifling guilty giggles; that's good black comedy in my book.

I thought the performance from the two leads was solid and enjoyable. Megan Fox played up Jennifer's sexiness, but gave her a subtle undercurrent of insecurity which gave tension to the character. Amanda Seyfried's Needy might not have been the cheerleader but was really the more settled and self-assured of the two characters.

Friendships held since childhood can become somewhat ambiguous as people age. This movie captured that well. To me the kiss between Jennifer and Needy really showed the low-key battle that was constantly raging between them, one they weren't consciously aware of most of the time.

Funniest scene for me involved some extremely shallow hipsters involved in some very dark dealings. Deliciously silly.

So, in conclusion, give this movie a try. There's a strong chance that you'll have a very good time.