This film, Jennifer’s Body has a lot of expectations riding on it. Especially for its writer, Diablo Cody, and star Megan Fox. For Cody, this film marks her first script since winning a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for 2007’s Juno. With Jennifer’s Body, she has to prove to everyone that she is not a one-hit wonder. Star Megan Fox is out to prove that she can carry a film, while also proving that her acting abilities extend beyond wearing tight clothes and talking to robots, as she did in the two Transformers films. Does either woman prove themselves worthy of their almost overnight success? For me, the answer would have to be no.

The plot for this high school-meets-horror film surrounds the title character Jennifer (Megan Fox) and her best friend Anita “Needy” Lesnicky (Amanda Seyfried). These two characters have been friends since they were young girls, even though they are polar opposites, Needy is the nerdy one and Jennifer is the hottest, most popular girl in the entire town. The reason behind their enduring friendship, we are told through Needy’s voice over, is “sandbox love never dies.”

The events of the film are put in motion when one night Jennifer decides to drag Needy away from her boyfriend, Chip (Johnny Simmons), and go to their town’s only bar, to see her favorite band, “Low Shoulder.”  As Jennifer tries to attract the attention of the band’s lead singer, Nikolai Wolf (Adam Brody), the bar catches on fire, and after Jennifer and Needy escape to the parking lot, the band convinces Jennifer to get in their van. Needy is left wandering what has happened to her BFF until Jennifer shows up hours later at Needy’s house, covered in blood. Jennifer says nothing and only vomits up an inky, black liquid before leaving.

Needy routinely got frustrated when Jennifer failed to make the bed.

The next day at school, Jennifer is seemingly fine and mentions nothing of the previous night’s events. Something however, is terribly wrong with her, as she was the victim of a botched satanic sacrifice by her favorite band (they mistook her for a virgin) and becomes possessed by a demon. This is a demon that requires human flesh to survive and soon the town’s teenage male population begins to disappear. It’s up to Needy to stop Jennifer before she consumes the entire male population of Devil’s Kettle, Minnesota.

The film’s dialogue is signature Diablo Cody, everyone speaks in a hyper-witty, sarcastic tone that anyone who saw Juno will know as soon as they hear it. The problem with Jennifer’s Body, unlike Juno, is that the dialogue that was fresh and fun then - sounds forced here.  It seems Cody is trying too hard to make the film funny and quirky, and it doesn’t work. The dialogue isn’t done any favors by Megan Fox who, while delivering some decent lines, doesn’t add any emotion behind her delivery. I think Fox, who has complained so much to the press about not being able to show her true talent, was proven wrong. I’m now certain we have already seen her range as an actress with the Transformers series.

Fire. It does a body good.

It also didn’t help Fox look any more capable by putting her opposite Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia!). Seyfried proves that she is miles above Megan Fox in the acting department by putting in the film’s only genuine performance as the heroine of the movie. The rest of the cast is decent with J.K. Simmons’ comedic talents going to waste in such a small part. The only other notable performance besides Seyfried, is Adam Brody’s comedic cameo as the band’s lead singer.

The films biggest offense however, is its tone. It’s never clear what the film is trying to be. It has elements of horror, but is neither scary nor gory enough to be considered a horror film. It isn’t a comedy, as it doesn’t feature enough laughs to be in that genre. Lastly, it can’t be considered a teen sex comedy either, as contrary to what the film’s publicity and its premise would have you believe, the film features no nudity. The sexual elements are rather PG-13 (sorry, Fox fans).

In the end, the film’s muddled tone really brings the whole thing down. It can’t decide what it wants to be, and it fails for this reason. If “Body” falters at the box office – I’m sure Megan Fox will continue to get roles with her looks alone and Cody will continue to write scripts – I just hope next time she brings something new to offer and doesn’t try to replicate her Juno dialogue again.  Jennifer’s Body is not a true disaster, but it lacks any real soul.

For the past couple of years, Megan Fox has been one of the hottest things to walk on God’s green Earth. Since Transformers, she literally has been the biggest image of the movie, even more than the Transformers themselves. Despite all of this, I want to say she’s not a very good actress. Of course the only two things I have ever seen her in have been the two Transformers films. Who is a good actress, though, is Amanda Seyfried, her co-star in the upcoming horror/comedy, Jennifer’s Body. She was terrific in Mama Mia! and had a good supporting role in Alpha Dog. But, back to Fox. I feel it unfair to write her off as a “bad actress” when all I’ve seen her in is Transformers, as Michael Bay films obviously aren’t an actors’ haven. I think I need to see a few more movies of hers to make a conclusion. I would like to see her take on a challenging role or even take the indie route, but right now, Jennifer’s Body should be sufficient.

"I'd rather be out killing someone, than listening to this."

Fox stars as the title role, Jennifer Clark. Jennifer is the most beautiful girl in high school and every male wants a piece of her.  Naturally, she’s also a cheerleader.  One of her childhood friends is the polar opposite, nerdy friend, Anita “Needy” Lesnicky (Amanda Seyfried).  While attending a rock concert, Jennifer falls victim to a satanic ritual performed by the band in hopes of getting recognition for a record deal.  When the ritual goes awry, Jennifer is possessed by a demon. With Jennifer now evil, she begins to lure boys near her for the purpose of killing them.  Anita is suspicious of Jennifer’s evil behavior and must find a way to stop her before her killing spree extends to all the high school boys.

The movie also co-stars J.K. Simmons (I Love You, Man and a favorite of mine), Johnny Simmons (The Spirit) and Adam Brody (Thank You For Smoking). Karyn Kusama directs Jennifer’s Body, who has also directed Girlfight (starring my favorite actress, Michelle Rodriguez) and Aeon Flux.  The screenplay was written by Diablo Cody, who recently won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Juno.

The lake-ness monster.

As I stated in the past, I like horror movies and I think this one looks pretty sweet.  An Academy Award winner in Cody writing it is the most important aspect.  It’s just up to Fox and Kusama to make it happen. It does have a good supporting cast with Seyfried and Simmons so I think this will turn out well.  Plus, it brings in the comedic aspect, which is always a plus in my book. It will probably be in a similar vein to Drag Me to Hell, and it looks like it pays homage to Sam Raimi as Fox wears an Evil Dead t-shirt in the trailer. This should do well since Fox is a big name and I’m sure every male can’t get enough of her.  I’ll probably see this because I like Seyfried and I want to see Simmons working from another Cody script, since he was really funny in Juno. Plus, I actually want to see Fox do well and change my current opinion of her. But, I’m also one of those males who wants to see her for the visual factor, too.

Jennifer’s Body opens September 18^th.