Fantastic!

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

I saw this as one of those "it's 11pm I'm not ready for bed what's this movie I've never seen popping up on the schedule" movies. It starts out like countless tween flix -- the crazy night between high school graduation and the the next sunrise that concludes the iconic teen zany hero's journey. It has parts of so many movies past -- RISKY BUSINESS, MY TUTOR, PORKY'S, ORANGE COUNTY, SAY ANYTHING, SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL, PRETTY IN PINK, SIXTEEN CANDLES, GRADUATION NIGHT, THE TO DO LIST, et al. The geeky guy, his colorful buddy sidekick, the unattainable sex/love object with a vulnerable heart of gold, the jealous brute BF, the fish out of water ritzy party, the encounter with wildlife, the encounter with booze, the cool parents, losing articles of clothing, you get the picture. What makes this one different? Not much, except that it's updated for 2009, and starring the then-uber-marketable girl who played the cheerleader in HEROES, a ridiculously muddled but popular tv series of its day.What saves this one from sliding further towards sucknosity is not-stupid acting, not-stupid writing and dialogue, and not stupidly impossible situations. Restraint and a modicum of adultness is what saves this one from being mock-worthy. It's pleasant, has some funny moments, tries not to insult your intelligence, and mostly gets away with it.

I don't know what I was expecting, but I think I got what I deserved. I shouldn't have been so stupid to fall into the trap.I LOVE YOU, BETH COOPER just rehashes every teen-movie stereotype we've seen since ANIMAL HOUSE, and not in a way that's at all fresh or funny. I could quibble about a lot of the little things: I could, for example, point out that a big opportunity was missed, if the heroine's parents were fans of heavy metal, to name her ALICE Cooper instead of Beth (especially since "School's Out" features so prominently on the soundtrack), though of course a movie called I LOVE YOU, ALICE COOPER would have thrown people off as to what it was really about.That aside, what angered me most were the stereotypes, especially the "nerd" ones. I've always hated the very word "nerd": it's an ugly slur and even sounds ugly, and if you ask me it should be considered "the other n-word." But popular culture continues to condescend to intelligent, artistic and/or shy people, trying to weasel their way out of accusations of nerd-bashing with "C'mon, we're just joking" or "We're laughing WITH you, not at you." Bull. They are most definitely laughing AT us.Actually, just about every teen character - and some of the adults, too - is a stereotype. There ARE a few bright points: it's refreshing for once to see a black character in a movie who's not tough or foul-mouthed or talks like Jar Jar Binks. And Beth Cooper herself is a LITTLE more developed as a character...but for a farce like this one, that's not saying much.I can't understand why movies like this one are still being made in the 21st century. I thought this was a generation that prided itself on being (pardon my cynicism) really smug and smart-alecky, and too cool for the old Hollywood shtick. Well, movies like BETH COOPER are not cool at all. And I don't want to hear the "we're-cool-because-we're-doing-it-ironically" excuse, because that carries no credibility for me.Really, the only reason to subject oneself to this movie is for the generous close-up shot it offers of Hayden Panettiere's cute porn-star panties. So I'll give this film a "2" for the panties and also because Panettiere as a whole is a joy to look at. But believe me: there is absolutely nothing else saving I LOVE YOU, BETH COOPER from a "1" rating from me.

Warning This Review may contain Spoilers When I first saw this film I was expecting a film that would simply be full of large belly laughs and maybe a witty line or two. What I got was a teen film about growing up and realizing that sometimes reality is different than fantasy and sometimes surprisingly better. The film's lead Hayden Panettiere has the makings of a young Kate Hudson. She is able to make the most outrageous situation in this comedy seem plausible. The film's main premise is a valedictorian professes his love to Beth Cooper during his speech as well as make jabs at other characters as well most notably Stratford native Shawn Roberts as Beth's built army boyfriend. The film begins as a comedy but it is a comedy that likes to bring out little moments of drama. Small touching scenes that Ms. Panettiere handles very well. This was absolutely not the film that I was expecting. I liked it better then I thought I would. However it still has faults. It is a little slow towards the end but a great little scene on a dock brings everything right back on course.Overall it is definitely a film for the thirteen and over crowd but even adults can find a thing or two to like in this film.

I am reviewing the movie "I Love You, Beth Cooper," starring Hayden Panettiere, Paul Rust, and Jack Carpenter. I remember looking at the previews of the movie a couple years ago and thinking to myself that it looks like the making of a okay movie. Hayden Panettiere and Lauren London is in it and Chris Columbus is the director, so how bad can it be. It also made me think that this could be your typical boy meets girls high school movie that tries to be way too funny. Then I heard there was a book out on it. When I found that out, I talk to some people that I know, that read the book, and they gave me a different outlook on the movie. They made me feel like it shouldn't be your typical "boy meets girl" high school movie.With that said I thought it was an okay movie. The movie is suppose to be about a valedictorian(played by Paul Rust) that is in love with a cheerleader.(played by Hayden Panettiere) I honestly laughed more than I thought I would.(even though I'm not a person that's hard to make laugh) I felt as though Hayden Panettiere might have been a little too popular for this role. She gave Coverman sort of a wild day, but I'm under the impression that it should have and could have been wilder. I think Columbus might have done too many flashbacks of their lives in this movie. Some of them I felt like were not needed. Like when Dr. Gleason (played by Andrea Savage) had her flashback. I just think that could have been left out of the movie and thrown into the "deleted scenes" pile. I also kind of thought that Beth Cooper was suppose to be the main character in the movie. Too often it felt like Dennis Coverman and Rich Munsch were the stars of the show and the two second kiss to get the beer...come on Coverman didn't have to act like that. It was not that serious. There were also times were Kevin and his boys might have came into the movie too often. Them coming out of nowhere during the shower scene was a little much. Honestly, the shower scene kind of wasn't really needed.What I thought was good about the movie was Paul Rust and Jack Carpenter's acting. I thought that Jack was funny and he had great timing, plus his facial expressions were on point when it came to his part of the comedy. Paul Rust also did a good job at being a nerd. Somebody that is too cool of a person could have easily messed that up. I thought that most of his movements and actions were on point and he did a great job. I feel as though Paul Rust and Jack Carpenter are going to be some good actors for the future. The soundtrack throughout the movie didn't sound bad either. For some reason, with these kinds of movies, musicians do a good job of coming up with songs that fit these kinds of movies. All in all, it's not the worst movie I have seen. I'm giving this movie a 6 out of 10.