"Jennifer's Body" a Smart, Shattering Mix of Magic and the Mundane

As one of the great apologists in the "Juno" backlash and in all respects a fan of Diablo Cody's debut screenplay, I suppose it was inevitable that I plunk down $12.50 to see her sophomore outing, even in a genre I usually find a bore.

I needn't have worried about the genre, the sophomore curse, the casting, the direction or indeed anything. Although not the must-see "Juno" was, this is one of the finer pictures I have ever seen in a genre too often made a dumping ground for trash.

Ably directed by Karyn Kusama and featuring strong cinematography from one M. David Mullen, "Jennifer's Body" is that rare genre picture that remembers the purpose of genre--that horror (in this case) is our doorway to address real-world fears and concerns. Despite what the trailer and the regrettable poster might think, this isn't a camp cheerleader blood romp nor a cheerfully gory demon party. It's a film about the sad life of a teenage girl, the heartbreaks of best friends who become frenemies, the stirring of hormones and blood, the desperation of young love, the rhythms of small-town life and the devastating effects of tragedy in a community too small to bear it. It draws as much from "Mean Girls" and the endless documentaries about Columbine as it does from horror, and weaves in Cody's trademark snappy dialogue to synthesize something new.

The great surprise is that Megan Fox, in her first proper starring role, can actually act. Oh, she's playing eye candy again (and how), but she's eye candy with her own ambitions and hopes and dreams, not to mention what may be her first script that would not insult the intelligence of a kumquat. Never before has one actor been so hurriedly paired with the sentence fragment "acquits herself nicely"; no doubt she was able to draw upon her own experiences of being the alpha girl, true, but she also handles her scenes of confident possession and abject human fear with aplomb. And what fun the female writer and director have exploiting 'male gaze'.

Amanda Seyfried, once a Mean Girl herself, is as fine a match on the other side of the street as the brilliantly-nicknamed Needy; Kusama smartly gives her pathetic-looking glasses that seem to enlarge her eyes fifty percent, giving the effect of the ultimate sad-eyed teenager.

The film has a little difficulty figuring out its ending, and perhaps places a bit too much emphasis on the 'why' of Jennifer's possession than the 'what'. It's best as a film that just sits back and observes its characters, its small and broken world in a small and breaking town. We can feel the need of these kids to get the hell out (literally, if need be), the tensions between girls who can all agree on which one is the pretty one. The burned-down tavern in Devil's Kettle will be rebuilt one day, and high school kids will flock there, whiling away the nights doing nothing. Don't weep for the ones Jennifer kills and eats. At least they had an adventure.

Wild, creepy, sometimes touching and sometimes hilarious, "Jennifer's Body" twins real human stories with flights of fancy. It wins more points on ideas than execution, but it's worth a watch.