Mean-spirited and coarse with a shallow girl at its hollow heart, Beth Cooper is Superbad without the super.
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08/24/09
I Love You, Beth Cooper (2009)
14
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:108
Fresh:15
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.
Theatrical Release:21-08-2009
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... [More]
Starring: Hayden Panettiere, Paul Rust, Jack T. Carpenter, Lauren London
Director: Chris Columbus
Reviews for I Love You, Beth Cooper
Top CriticThis is pretty average stuff.
08/24/09
Top CriticThis adaptation of Larry Doyle’s bestseller is too soul-starved and lethally bland to warm the cockles.
08/24/09
Top CriticAn undistinguished work.
08/24/09
We’ve seen it a million times before, and better. The situations are forced, the script is weak, the pace drags and, frankly, it just isn’t funny enough.
08/24/09
A sexed-up, dumbed-down romp that can’t decide whether to please undemanding adults, sniggering adolescents or naughty children who shouldn't be watching in the first place.
08/24/09
The mixture of obvious jokes and winsome sentiment pretty much robs the film of any guilty pleasure value it might have provided.
08/24/09
The real problem is that it doesn’t have any heart. This is by-the-numbers film-making in which even those moments when the characters step off the merry-go-round to catch their breath feel manufactured.
08/21/09
Top CriticThere’s the potential for ‘Superbad’-style comedy when Denis and his pal go on the run with Beth and friends, but the pace is slow and lines fall flat thanks to long pauses and hammy delivery.
08/21/09
Top CriticPainfully unfunny, I Love You, Beth Cooper is more likely to elicit the opposite reaction.
08/21/09
Top CriticThe movie is cringe-worthy when trying to be humorous, and laughable when it attempts belatedly to make us care about these characters with the depth and humanity of wet cardboard. I hate you, pathetic high school movie.
08/21/09
A mirth-free endurance test, like holding your breath underwater.
08/21/09
Because other than HP looking cute in next to no clothing, this film is a total waste of time. The jokes range from crude, to daft, to offensive. And none of them are funny.
08/21/09
Top CriticThe pace is oddly sluggish, the flashbacks are awkward, and most of the risque lines die a death, but there are two reasons to stay with it – Rust himself as the super-dweeb hero and Jack T Carpenter as his movie-quoting best friend.
08/21/09
I Love You, Beth Cooper is just about worth seeing, thanks to likeable characters and at least one inspired gag, but it should have been a lot funnier and it falls short of hitting its emotional targets.
08/21/09
I hate you, I Love You, Beth Cooper. I hate you because you couldn't be any more half-hearted if you'd just had half your heart chopped out in a half-heart-ectomy by a surgeon who couldn't really be bothered doing it.
08/21/09
This appears too obviously the work of middle-aged men – director Columbus included – trying to regain past glories.
08/21/09
A bimbo pride teen comedy whose cheerleader girl entourage of shallow sexpots gets enlightened too, about how 'useful' and even entertaining smart geeks with tons of brainy information to spare can be, even if totally lacking in hunk appeal.
10/30/09
Laughs are in equally short supply as interesting, much less likable, characters.
08/31/09
So much emphasis is put on pratfalling that it leaves the sensitive moments completely stranded, unable to make themselves felt for fear they may get a punch in the mouth.
08/27/09
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