I Love You, Beth Cooper - DVD and Blu-ray Review

FOX
Street: Nov. 3
Prebook: now
> Tame teen comedy relies on Hayden Panettiere’s personality for effect.

A derivative coming-of-age yarn, Beth Cooper benefits from Hayden Panettiere’s self-aware performance as the titular tease, but the film is otherwise a middling addition to the teen movie genre. In his valedictory speech, geeky high school grad Denis Cooverman (played by the very unprepossessing Paul Rust) impulsively professes his love for the awesomely popular but unsuspecting Beth, who gets acquainted with her admirer over the course of an eventful graduation night. The situations in which Denis finds himself are predictably humiliating, and the scenes in which Beth warms to the socially maladroit nerd don’t carry much conviction, but the film’s tone is agreeably light, and Panettiere registers well in the leading role.

Shelf Talk: Any extra effort expended on pushing this title will have to depend upon the overall popularity of teen movies and whatever star power Heroes hottie Panettiere has with the target audience. Fox is expected to cross-promote the title vigorously, and the traditional marketing mix skewed to younger customers should be sufficient.