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.
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08/21/09
I Love You, Beth Cooper (2009)
15
%
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.
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
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 CriticBecause 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 CriticPainfully unfunny, I Love You, Beth Cooper is more likely to elicit the opposite reaction.
08/21/09
Top CriticThe mixture of obvious jokes and winsome sentiment pretty much robs the film of any guilty pleasure value it might have provided.
08/24/09
There’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 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
The 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
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
This appears too obviously the work of middle-aged men – director Columbus included – trying to regain past glories.
08/21/09
Mean-spirited and coarse with a shallow girl at its hollow heart, Beth Cooper is Superbad without the super.
08/24/09
Top CriticThis is pretty average stuff.
08/24/09
Top CriticAn undistinguished work.
08/24/09
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
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
This adaptation of Larry Doyle’s bestseller is too soul-starved and lethally bland to warm the cockles.
08/24/09
Top CriticSweet, funny, and smart in unexpected ways
11/12/09
Silly, highly contrived and far from a classic, but it's ultimately a harmless comedic adventure with a terrific cast and plenty of mindless fun that should please its target audience: teenagers.
07/11/09
Larry Doyle's book felt dangerous and wild, but the movie is safe and sentimental.
07/10/09
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