Jennifer's Body (Unrated Version) - **+ out of ****

Megan Fox plays Jennifer, a hot high-school girl who has a secret; a crappy indie band took her after a local tragedy, and when she returns, she starts acting strange. She vomits some kind of black liquid, she seems to get increasingly unattractive during certain times, and boys start showing up dead. Her best friend, Needy (Amanda Seyfried, a rising star with a killer comedic edge) watches from the outside as tragic events unfold. We open with Needy in an insane asylum, kicking an orderly in the face for no good reason as she tells us what brought her there. If you saw a trailer, you know what happened, but in case you haven't, I won't spoil it. I wish I didn't know before I saw it, but alas, I did. This isn't really worth mentioning as a flaw within the movie (and it didn't have a bearing on my star rating), but it's hard to maintain a sense of mystery when we know all the secrets.

Perhaps Diablo Cody is her own worst enemy. She wrote the excellent, Oscar-winning "Juno," and when I heard about the concept behind "Jennifer's Body," I will admit that I was excited. Some of the best post-Oscar career choices go into projects like these. I mean, Philip Seymour Hoffman went from winning the gold man for "Capote" into being the villain of "Mission: Impossible 3," and now he's proven that he's one of the best actors on the planet. Martin Scorsese directed the documentary on the Rolling Stones, "Shine a Light." I could talk about other choices, but the point remains that almost always, one who wins an Oscar's hardest decision is the project after.

In this, the script really only has some sporadically amusing moments and no really interesting supporting characters. "Juno" won audiences and critics alike because where "Jennifer's Body" failed was where "Juno" soared. The characters were fascinating, and the story was told in a way that made it a very special film. In opening in the insane asylum, we immediately get a sense of dramatic irony which serves as a fault in this particular genre. We know that Needy will most likely survive the carnage that ensues, so any tension where we fear for her life just doesn't work.

What I had hoped for was a somewhat campy horror/comedy. There's some great humor when Jennifer is asked out by an emo-kid ("My dick is bigger than his"), and the general set-up seemed golden, but the final product felt unfinished and in need of some retooling. Mostly what it needs is a single genre focus. We can't be scared by overly bizarre circumstances, and when the movie is imitating it should be parodying. There was an amount of gold that could have made this something of a genre classic, but it felt like a "Juno" nightmare rather than its own move.

All my bitching aside, the movie wasn't all bad. I could go on about how the trailers (which are the fault of the advertising, not the writer/director) seemed to leave absolutely nothing to discover except the final five minutes, but you get my point by now. I simply feel that the movie's biggest weaknesses exist in the script. If you have an idea of what you're getting into and you want to take the trip, you'll probably enjoy yourself. That's really the bottom line here.

I wish I could say more about Megan Fox's skill here and what her potential is, but I've only watched her in this and "Transformers," both movies with bad scripts. If I didn't do some research before I wrote this review, I'd say that the role of Jennifer was written for her, but it wasn't. She shows a certain darkly comedic flair here, and she makes Jennifer a somewhat mysterious character (all spoilers aside). Perhaps if we didn't see her killing the boys as it happened, there would be a great whodunit present. Sure, you can show the gore from those scenes later in flashbacks when Jennifer tells Needy what the hell is going on, but it feels like walking the track before riding on it.

I wish I could say better things about this movie, but I really can't bring myself to. It might be easy to get dissuaded by the fact that Megan Fox was nominated for a Razzie for this, but I don't think it was deserved. If Diablo Cody was nominated (although I don't see any room between "Transformers 2," "Old Dogs," "Twilight: New Moon," "All About Steve," and "G.I. Joe"), I wouldn't fret. Maybe Megan has some deeply felt passion for film that could serve us well in the future. Since she's out of the "Transformers" franchise; I think now's the chance to see.

Note- Is it just me, or was Diablo Cody's dialogue really only suited for "Juno"? Instead of "Cheese and Fries!" it's now closer to "Cheese and Fuckin' Cock Fries!".

Theatrical Version was rated R for sexuality, bloody violence, language and some drug use.
But it here.