Je t'aime, Beth Cooper

In your typical teen comedy there comes the standard, "we must lose our virginity" and "gross-out" scenes and lots of pop culture references. In I Love You Beth Cooper, there is none of that. It's a real love story laced with some funny things to say.

Denis (Paul Rust) gives a final speech as he graduates and proclaims his love for Beth Cooper (Hayden Panettiere) while doing so. He also has some fun by telling the entire class about some of the other flawed students. To his surprise, Beth and her two friends, are the only people, aside from his friend Rich, who come to his party.

I liked this movie for a lot of reasons, but most of all because it wasn't like American Pie, Superbad, or Road Trip. It had some heart to it and it wasn't just a bunch of teen comedies with a bunch of nudity and sex. I loved the fact that Hayden Panettiere was the main role and how she was the fantasy girl that every guy dreams of being with, but still a down-to-Earth girl.

There's tons of jokes, that aren't idiotic. There's a lot of fun and changing of scenes in this movie and a lot of romantic moments as well. I think the movie would be amazing if it had some sort of moral or real ending. I'll let you figure out what I mean by that. But I don't think the ending is satisfying.

It's an entertaining film, and if you're in the dawn of graduating or have just you'll probably love it. If you're a couple years shy of graduating you may not relate as much. I think I liked it even more because I graduated recently.

This is my first review but I'm not going to say everyone will agree with what I have to say but what I can say is I loved the movie, this movie had all the signs that he's going to get the girl blah blah blah which I loved and I enjoyed it but this movie shows you a ending can really go from a 7/10 to a 5/10. Ya that's 0 to 100 real quick! The ending really made me not like this. It sucks to say that because watching it all the way thru just to watch that ending it will make you laugh, cry and even blush and root for the guy but just to piss you off in the end so ya loved the movie all the way thru I thought the actors and actresses were good it was just the ending that had me never wanting to watch it again. If we are single at our 10 years I'm going to marry you! He didn't get the girl sadly.

Valendictorian Dennis Cooverman (Paul Rust) gives the craziest of all graduation speech. First he proclaims "I love you, Beth Cooper". Beth (Hayden Panettiere) is the hot popular cheerleader. That's before his speech makes enemies. He even declares that his best friend Rich Munsch (Jack Carpenter) is gay. He invites her to his graduation party. It's only him and Rich but then surprisingly, Beth shows up with her girlfriends Cammy (Lauren London) and Treece (Lauren Storm).

This movie really struggles with Paul Rust as the lead. He's a geeky looking guy but not nearly adorable enough. He's quirky but not that funny. The character really demands to be played by a faux-geek rather a real nerd like Rust. Hayden Panettiere's character is not somebody on a pedestal. She's a little bit complicated and that's a good thing. The problem is that she's not the lead. Rust is the lead and he can't carry the movie.

'I Love You Beth Cooper' is a teen comedy that gently pushes a few boundaries but doesn't really do anything new. It is based on the book of the same name by Larry Doyle. Unlike the book though, this film never really captures the same atmosphere and leaves you wanting more from the characters. Unfortunately, due to some poor timing many of the jokes fall flat leaving the film to stutter instead of flow.

The film does pick up pace midway through the 2nd act however ultimately there isn't anything overly likable about the geek. A touch of reality may have made his character more believable but it seems the director prefers sight gags over substance. Some of the locations work well to build the atmosphere, but the dialog just feels too cheesy and forced to make you feel comfortable enough to just go with the story.

Hayden Panettiere is really the only reason you would watch this. It isn't hard to see why Denis would fall in love with her Beth - I kept thinking I'd probably do the same if I went to her school. I found her character to be very credible and I enjoyed every scene she was in.

If you like Beauty and the Geek and you're a fan of Hayden, this is worth watching. More music, faster - wittier dialog and more character development would have improved this ten fold.

Now the way I'm reading all these comments on IMDb, people are acting like this was absolutely the worst movie of all time. Honestly, I love you Beth Cooper is not going to be one of those high school movie classics by no mean, but I didn't feel like my time was wasted watching it. As predictable and silly as it was, I still think this was a decent enough movie that got a few good laughs. I mean, who hasn't wanted to go all out on their high school class and just mock them on the last day of school? Not to mention get the hottie of their dreams in the same night that has them just living life to it's fullest. I think that over all the film worked, there were certain things that were flawed in the movie like the script could have used a few touch up's here and there and the cast did seem a little off. Paul Rust, it's kind of disturbing that he not only looks but is 28 years old and then you have Hayden Panettiere who looks 12 years old, it was a little… well, you get the idea. But still I think I love you Beth Cooper had it's moments enough to make you just sit back and forget reality for 95 minutes.

When a geeky high-school valedictorian throws caution to the wind by expressing his love for a popular cheerleader during his graduation speech, life finally starts to get interfering for Denis Cooverman who may have brains to spare; it's guts that he lacks, or at least, he did until today. Stepping up to the podium to deliver an inspirational speech to his graduating class, Denis decides that the time has finally come to call out his classmates on their peccadilloes and declare his love for the prettiest girl in school, Beth Cooper. Much to Denis' surprise, Beth responds by accepting an invitation to a party at his house later that day. But Beth's meat head boyfriend Kevin is none-too-pleased that his high school prize is mingling with the biggest dweeb in school, and when Kevin shows up at his house and tears the place apart in a fit of rage Denis, his best friend Rich, Beth, and her friends Cammy and Treece all pile into Beth's car and flee for their lives. For four long years Denis sat silently behind Beth in class, pining for a way to make his love known. Now, over the course of one long night, Denis will finally get to know the girl of his dreams better than he ever thought possible. If he manages to survive until morning, it's sure to be the story of a lifetime.

There were times that I absolutely laughed out loud like when Beth's psycho boyfriend kept going after Denis and just beating the heck out of him each time. Also seeing how Denis was reacting to all of Beth's "flaws" as a law breaking crazy party girl that he never imagined, only the sick fantasy as he has her picture blown up and taped over his bed. I think just the cast, the script and the characters needed work in order for this to be a great movie and that's why everyone is freaking out and saying how this is the most horrendous movie ever, either that or they're taking it too seriously. I think if you just let go and have a good time, you'll get a few laughs out of this movie, it's all in good fun and sometimes we need those silly high school flicks to either fantasize or bring us back to the good old days where getting a pimple at prom seems to be your scariest problem in the world. I love you Beth Cooper is worth the watch but more so wait for the rental vs. theater, it's just an average teen comedy.

6/10