I Love You, Beth Cooper Blu-ray Review

I Love You, Beth Cooper, is a November 3rd Blu-ray release by director and writer Larry Dowle, made available by Sunrise Entertainment. This spoof is a story about  high school characters who don’t turn out to be who you initially think.

The story begins when Denis Cooverman (Paul Rust), the geekiest guy in school, uses his valedictorian speech to profess his love for beautiful head cheerleader Beth Cooper (Hayden Panettiere).  Despite the shock and stir created by Denis’ announcement, Beth shows up with her two best friends to take Denis on the wildest ride of his life.

As the opposite’s attract story builds, tension mounts as Beth’s maniacal ex-boyfriend Kevin (Shawn Roberts) and his friends make Denis “enemy #1″.  The I Love You, Beth Cooper story is one of romantic comedy, with some bits of drama and high school cliche mixed in.

Despite some surface strengths, mainly “Heroes” star Panettiere, I Love You, Beth Cooper is a somewhat disappointing effort as far as the best teen movies of the romantic comedy variety go.  Panettiere is fine, though her character is shallow and under developed.  The simple fact is that the chemistry between the lead characters is lacking, and not just because of the film’s premise.

Rust is fine is a role that seems to hit home. Roberts is okay as the movie’s thug. Jack T. Carpenter may deliver the best performance in I Love You, Beth Cooper as the doting best friend with a charm and subtle humor about him. You could do worse than I Love You, Beth Cooper on Blu-ray, but you could certainly find better romantic teen comedies.

I Love You, Beth Cooper special features include:

• An Outrageous Alternate Ending
• Deleted Scenes
• More Laughs with the cast!

• Actors: Alan Ruck, Cynthia Stevenson, Hayden Panettiere, Paul Rust, Jack T. Carpenter, Shawn Roberts, Devin Drewitz, Samm Levine
• Directors: Chris Columbus
• Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• Blu-ray Release Date: November 3, 2009
• Run Time: 102 minutes

Blu-ray Review by Neil of Movie Room Reviews

I Love You, Beth Cooper DVD Review

I Love You, Beth Cooper is a self-proclaimed spoof by director and writer Larry Dowle, released on November 3rd by Sunrise Entertainment. The spoof has to do with high school characters who don’t turn out to be who we initially thought that they were. The crux is between lead cheerleader Beth (Hayden Panettiere) and valedictorian Dennis Cooverman (Paul Rust). Beth always has to hear men say that they love her because they want to sleep with her, so she becomes somewhat cynical; Dennis is dominated by his parents and physical guys who like to gang up on anyone, but especially him!

Larry Dowle had a (literal) dream in which he told a girl from high school that he loved her (during his own valedictory speech). Dennis appears shy and dorky and his constant companion is Rich (Jack T. Carpenter), who knows and recalls so much about films that he’s constantly stating that he isn’t gay! Beth never learned to drive well and in a flashback her driving instructor is appalled that she’s killed everyone (seven neon cones in a parking lot). This relates to her driving haphazardly and FAST, needless to say, during the rest of the film.

Rated PG 13, I Love You, Beth Cooper can be watched with the entire family (the “blows” are fake and obviously not as lethal as they’re meant to be, however angry a young high school male can get). Beth’s soon-to-be-ex boyfriend Kevin (Shaun Roberts) is constantly defending Beth with his fists, especially after Dennis’ “unusual” speech.

Director Larry Dowle states that “this is definitely not a love story”, but inevitably I Love You, Beth Cooper IS a love story – however the love is far more reaching – many of the characters begin to love themselves and then have affection for their companions. If you don’t follow this film to the end it will seem like just another wacky teenage flick (e.g. until the VERY end we find out that Treece – Lauren Stone – has hidden Shapearean and literary knowledge and is not just a flake, which she shows to the outside world for “social survival” in high school, and in college will study acting). For this reason (learning how we all project stereotypes onto strangers) I highly recommend this movie, as it runs against the norm in the understanding of most interactions!

Grade: B

Director: Larry Dowle
Starring: Paul Rust, Hayden Panettierre, Jack T. Carpenter, Shaun Roberts

DVD Review by Christina of Movie Room Reviews