Hayden Panettiere, Paul Rust, Jack T. Carpenter, Lauren London

A nerdy valedictorian proclaims his love for the hottest and most popular girl in school – Beth Cooper (Panettiere) – during his graduation speech. Much to his surprise, Beth shows up at his door that...( read more  read more... ) very night and decides to show him the best night of his life.

Flixster Users

42% liked it

244,256 ratings

Critics

15% liked it

110 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 42 min.

Directed by: Chris Columbus

Release Date: July 10, 2009

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DVD Release Date: November 3, 2009

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Flixster Reviews (6,002)


  • January 23, 2010
    I do like a bit of cheese with my movies. That inner child in me also loves those high school era films, that bring back that bit of nostalgia like American Pie, Can't Hardly Wait, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Election, Or even ( I can't believe I'm acting admitt...( read more)ing this... ) Bring It On.
    With those two qualities checked off, and the fact that I think Hayden Panettiere is gorgeous, I thought this movie would be really good if given an R rating. When I found out if was PG 13 and watered down to cater to the masses of teeny boopers, I didn't think I would see this film. Then, I saw that is was directed by Chris Columbus. No, not the sail aroud the ocean to discover America guy - the guy who did classics like Adventures In Babysitting, Mrs. Doubtfire, Stepmom, and The first two Harry Potter films. Since I am a fan of most of his work, I thought I would give it a go...
    After I watched it, I realized that I would have been better off watching Say Anything for the 679th time instead.
    Sure, it was cute and it had some humorous moments, but it was totally predictable and lacked something major in the character development and story line.
    Yes Hayden Panettiere is gorgious and Jack T. Carpenter was pretty comical, but the casting was not very good at all. I did love that they cast Alan Ruck as Mr. Cooverman. Although, it did make me feel VERY old. He was playing teenagers when I was a teenager, now he's playing parent to the teenagers....ugh. But he will always hold a special place in my heart as Cameron Frye. Oh those were the days. :)
    Although, if your looking for a bit of that nostalgia... I say skip I Love You Beth Cooper and watch Pretty In Pink or Back To The Future instead.
  • December 13, 2009
    It's a good thing someone loves Beth Cooper, because surely no one who actually watches the movie will. I saw it a week ago and already have trouble remembering it. Here's what I do remember - the film has only one saving grace, and that's how adorable Hayden Panethierhecnalg i...( read more)s (fuck, I hate her last name). She's cute. She's really hot. She shows side boob, and to top it all off...she actually gives a decent performance here. Oh, her character is a manipulative monster. But give her kudo's for attempting to inject this wretched thing with some humanity, and the movie even almost redeems itself a little by tackling the romance in a realistic fashion near the end. So it's not all bad. Just mostly.

    My theory about I Love You Beth Cooper is as follows. The writer adapted his book into a screenplay, and was quite proud. At the same time, he was writing another script, which wasn't a feel good teenage comedy, but instead a film about killer robots who chase everyone around and just be massive douchebags. He wrote both, then walked to the studio executive's office to hand them in...but on the way there, he tripped and all the pages fell in together. In a rushed effort at saving himself from embarassment, he grabbed all the pieces of paper he could find and shoved them in together, and luckily the exec didn't notice. So during one scene, we can have a nerdy geek and a beautiful popular girl share stories, thoughts, and fall for each other, and then in the next scene we can have three body builders act like Christian Bale and tear everything up. Seriously - who the fuck thought the character of Beth Cooper's boy toy was a good idea? He throws things into walls, he chases, he beats up, he screams, he yells, he punches, he threatens, he speaks in a growly voice that sounds like Batman...in short, he belongs in a completely different movie. A worse one. Which is saying a lot.

    If these terrible characters didn't exist, there might have been some salvation for this film. But it still would have been a long shot. All the other characters are cardboard cutouts (most offensively, the movie nerd doesn't even get his own shit right - when he talks about Casablanca, he does a Jimmy Stewart impression instead of the Boges). The plot goes nowhere...it tries to be a Dazed and Confused "come of age within one night" kind of thing, but when the characters try to tip over a cow and step in manure, you sort of lose your credibility with that kind of thing. Credibility and realism in general is something avoided in this flick - the stuff Beth Cooper does, which includes grand theft auto, destruction of property, driving an SUV through the walls of a mansion, and toying with a young boy's heart (ho ho), would throw her in prison, not a cozy cottage out by the lake. There are honestly scenes and actions and dialogue so mind-numbingly stupid that you will be stunned. And the director did the first two Harry Potter movies, by the way (which also weren't good, but at least it shows he's not completely inept).

    Long story short - don't see I Love You Beth Cooper. I know most of you didn't in theatres, but you might be thinking "She's really cute, let's download it and see". No. Stop. Download a picture of Hayden instead and just stare at it for a couple hours. You'll have a better time. Trust me.
  • November 20, 2009
    I Love You Beth Cooper takes the high school standard of "THE" girl that ruled the roost over the four years of education you go through and the infatuations that males had for her and wraps them up in a neat little bow that presents the class geek (Paul Rust) professing his love...( read more) during graduation. An interesting premise, I must say and it could have worked if the script was written with any kind of sincerity, the direction was worth a damn, and had acting that was above the putrid level of two geeks at a bus stop doing Monty Python skits.

    What invariably happens is that the geek and his best friend (Jack Carpenter) end up, through a series of circumstances, on the town with the geeks queen Beth Cooper (Hayden Panettiere) and her entourage. Of course there's the party that gets crashed and the pissed off boyfriend, but it's what happens during this final night of high school insanity that the geek realizes the Venus-like girl in his head is not the wild teenage girl crashing into his parents Volvo.

    As a plot on paper the film sounds pretty good. It's an age old formula for decades, but it sounds like something different compared to most of the teen comedies out there. But then we get the script, which is an atrocious series of misadventures that zig zag without anywhere to land. There's the psycho, coked up, Army boyfriend (I though they gave drug tests) who is this Superman chasing our harem throughout the night, yet is defeated in a towel fight, never to be seen again. The acting is terrible due to the fact that it rests on Panettiere, who isn't the greatest actress in the first place. A poorly acted movie that's only saving grace is Alan Ruck as the geeks father. Yes, Cameron had a kid (see if you can get that reference).

    I Love You Beth Cooper is essentially resume filler for the cast with Panettiere being able to say that she had a starring role in a film. This film was directed by Chris Columbus, who quit making the Harry Potter movies after the first two. Now we know why.
  • October 25, 2009
    Man, was this movie awful! It's rather pointless seeking pure, comedic entertainment nowadays when you simply want to see something light in order to relax with a smoothie in your hand. This was worse than Forgetting Sarah Marshall and The 40-year-old Virgin put tog...( read more)ether! In a kinder, subtler nature, of course.

    The stereotypes are ridiculously and over-excessively used, Hayden Panettiere should remain in being Claire Bennet, and Hollywood should stop making comedies at last! Not funny, not original, not smart, not realistic, not likable, not memorable, not worth the money put to it, not...anything!
  • July 31, 2009
    I Love You, Beth Cooper attempts to emulate classic high school raunchy comedies, but it fails at all angles. Though I enjoyed some of the more tender moments, the movie often reverts back to horrible slapstick gags.
  • February 9, 2010
    Well I don't Love youuuuu xx
  • February 4, 2010
    Pretty cute little movie. Worth a one time watch.
  • February 2, 2010
    I feel bad when I watch awkward people, worst when it's through an entire movie.
  • January 30, 2010
    I'd received this as a Christmas gift, so i gave the blu-ray a peep this afternoon, and I'd say that I stand behind my original feelings. This works pretty well as an adaptation of the book, so I'm not sure why so many people got down on it.

    This film wasn't as laugh out loud a...( read more)s people may've wanted it to be, but for a fan of the novel, it hits all the right bits pretty damned well. It's charming and sweet and just a little over the top with the nutty antics to remind you that you're watching a farcical flick and not events that are meant to take place in the real world.

    Well worth a rental
  • January 21, 2010
    Well it was entertaining, nevertheless the movie plot is too thin.

Critic Reviews


July 10, 2009
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

The charmlessness of its central characters -- Rust's charisma-challenged Denis, Panettiere's Barbie-hard and vacuous Beth -- makes this putative farce all the more difficult to endure. full review

July 10, 2009
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Aiming for the heartfelt hilarity of Superbad, I Love You, Beth Cooper is just super bad. full review

July 10, 2009
Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com

I Love You, Beth Cooper moves along, taking two steps backward into crassness for every clever or just plain sweet moment it offers. full review

July 10, 2009
A.O. Scott, The New York Times

If fun is what you're looking for, you might want to avoid I Love You, Beth Cooper, a drab and incoherent teen comedy. full review

July 9, 2009
Claudia Puig, USA Today

The characters lack charm and dimension, falling into stereotypical molds. Joyless scenarios bounce between scenes of driving around town and predictable party mayhem. full review

July 9, 2009
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The writer of I Love You, Beth Cooper says the story is based on a dream. I believe him. This is one of the very few movies where I wanted the hero to wake up and discover it was only a dream. full review

View more I Love You Beth Cooper reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • punyame2ts
    December 3, 2009
    emmmmmmmm
    i want to see it
  • tshoving
    November 17, 2009
    Emmanuel in DRCongo say hello
  • akaysol
    November 11, 2009
    this is a good job keep it up
    kay
  • Rosepetal75
    February 14, 2009
    http://www.worstpreviews.com/trailer.php?id=1319&item=0
    Check It out: New Beth Cooper Movie Trailer

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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