I Loathe Beth Cooper

Hey, let's put the guy who is almost 30 in a polo shirt that was popular when he was in High School... that will make him young.

I loathe Beth Cooper. Now this isn't just a statement of disdain for the film but also for the main character. I hate to jump right in without a witty retort or a story of how I saw this movie. I usually try to avoid spewing hate towards films because I feel like it makes me just like every other blogger. But there are moments that I feel my sense of civic duty overrides my desire to be different or well spoken.

This movie is horrible. I confess I saw an early screening and they give us the speech that it isn't the finished film, but I don't think they could redeem this movie. It looks like they got the same director of photography as Twilight, giving it a TV movie feel. The actor/male love interest is 10 years older than the part he's playing and it's obvious. When this movie comes out on Blue Ray and is viewed on a 1080i tv, this fact is going to become even more obvious. The story is predictable and a bad version of a genre I love, the teen movie (even with the time constraints I love, a single night.) You never connect with the characters as they go from zany teen hi jinx to zany teen hi jinx.

The main culprit of this film is Beth Cooper, played by Hayden Panettiere. She is written as an unredeemed, obnoxious stereotype. She is played by an actress that in all that I have seen can not act. (Watching Hereos from a non-fan perspective, it's obvious.) The sad part for me is that Chris Columbus directed this movie: this guy wrote Gremlins and Goonies! He has had some duds (Bicentenial Man) and some hits (Harry Potter 1&2), but I expected more from him. I know he hit his stride directing a John Hughes written film (Home Alone) and from what I've heard he's always had a deep appreciation for John Hughes and his teen films of the 1980's. Well, unfortunately this movie doesn't deserve to be put in the same category as those films.

This movie is bad, I am appealing to friends, heck even teens, everyone, don't see this movie. Don't encourage them to make bad movies. With that said, I hope that Hollywood doesn't see this films failure at the box office as a sign that American's don't like these movies anymore. It should be a sign that American's don't like bad movies.