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I Love You, Beth Cooper

Generally unfavorable reviews
Based on 30 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 24 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy
Written by: Larry Doyle
Directed by: Chris Columbus
Release Date:
Theatrical: July 10, 2009
DVD: November 3, 2009
Running Time: 102 minutes, Color
Origin: Canada | USA
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for crude and sexual content, language, some teen drinking and drug references, and brief violence
Starring Hayden Panettiere, Paul Rust, Jack T. Carpenter, and Lauren London
Buffalo Grove High School valedictorian Denis Cooverman has had quite an academic career...on paper, at least. Superlative student, conscientious young gentleman and patently obvious dork, Denis has played it safe and made it all the way to graduation day without ever having really experienced some of the joys of higher learning: breaking curfew, destruction of property, over-consumption of alcohol, fist fights, late nights, fast cars or faster women (actually, women of any sort). But all of that is about to change, and all by uttering five little words: I LOVE YOU, BETH COOPER. (20th Century Fox)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
The story is timeless; this could have taken place when Doyle graduated in '76 -- or any year, really, since the effects of high school linger throughout adult life and nerds are forever.
Read Full Review >New York Post Kyle Smith
Isn't especially hilarious, but it has a warm sense of humor instead of a string of gross-out jokes. It'll be a cable mainstay.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
Has some smart flashes, and a few of the young performers resemble real people and not the usual prefab teen idols.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Jason Buchanan
For a teen film to resonate, it has to feel honest, and I Love You, Beth Cooper simply comes off as too paint-by-numbers to achieve any level of emotional authenticity.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
There's a sense that a much better movie is trying to get out but it never attains escape velocity.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Of the two co-stars, what I can say is that I’m looking forward to their next films.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
The problem with I Love You, Beth Cooper is that aside from Denis' speech at the start, everything else seems familiar.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
Panettiere, I’m sad to report, is a dud as the title character, a supposed wild thang who never rises above the level of runty, obnoxious mall chick, down to the roll-on tan.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Stephen Cole
The movie feels like something parents want their kids to see. Harold and Kumar wouldn't want anything to do with Beth Cooper or Denis Cooverman. You're probably not going to like them much either.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
Since that gifted, attractive performer is Hayden Panettiere, who has already won a wide following for "Heroes," it's a wonder that the studio hasn't been more heavily promoting her appearance in this decent, genial youth comedy. After all, she does play, ah, Beth Cooper.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
This leaden teen comedy is meant to be lively, but it's curiously bland.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub
Isn't a terrible addition to the teen coming-of-age party movie catalog. It just feels dated.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
Moves along, taking two steps backward into crassness for every clever or just plain sweet moment it offers. Although many of the movie's problems seem to be rooted in the script, Columbus has such a heavy touch that he sabotages nearly every scene.
Read Full Review >Empire Staff (Not credited)
Painfully unfunny, I Love You, Beth Cooper is more likely to elicit the opposite reaction.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
The film quickly turns unintentionally, and unrelentingly, awkward.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Ruth McCann
Perhaps the best thing that can be said about I Love You, Beth Cooper is that the title is correctly punctuated. Beyond that, the movie is a disappointingly flabby teen flick.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
Ends up as little more than a recursive footnote to the infinitely better up-all-night teen comedies of, you guessed it, John Hughes.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Stephen Farber
Although the teenage audience is notoriously undiscriminating, it's hard to imagine many kids turning out for this laugh-free comedy.
Read Full Review >Variety Brian Lowry
Peaks early -- like, during the first three minutes -- and rapidly goes downhill from there.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
A funny thing happened to Larry Doyle's 2007 debut novel on the way to the multiplex. It turned into its own ring of coming-of-age comedy hell.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Aiming for the heartfelt hilarity of "Superbad," I Love You, Beth Cooper is just super bad.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
There’s hardly an authentic second in the film.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Scott Foundas
Joyless, offensively stupid end-of-high-school farce.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell
I was stunned to learn that "Beth Cooper" was adapted by former "Simpsons" writer Larry Doyle from his young-adult novel and directed by "Harry Potter" helmer Chris Columbus. Rarely have two seasoned Hollywood professionals produced something so painfully, amateurishly, relentlessly unfunny.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Don R. Lewis
Sloppy, not funny, downright stupid, ridiculous as well as horribly themed and shot.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Joe Neumaier
This unfunny, unoriginal, charmless teen comedy is so stunningly awful from start to finish, it's amazing to think its director has made a single film before, much less a dozen.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 3.7 (out of 10) based on 24 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Ram B. gave it a4:
Besides being too obvious, some dialogues are weak even for teen movie standards. Plus, the plot really doesn't decide: is it an action movie, a renewed love story or just a silly comedy? Sadly, Chris Columbus's latest effort should have been a straight to TV movie.
Gnarles S. gave it a1:
How can such a funny book be made into this dreg? The male lead was awful and the dialogue was unfunny. This is the kind of movie that makes everyone in the audience think, "I could write movies a lot better than this!"
Izzy C gave it a0:
One of the worst movies i have ever seen, the lead (Paul Rust) was unbearable to watch and the funniest part of the movie was the credits were they showed the pictures of everyone who worked on the movie in there high school pictures.
Kai K gave it a7:
I haven't seen "I love you Beth Cooper" but it looks amusingly funny to some degree. Hayden Panettiere is really hot(which my be the redeeming part of this film). The film seems like its border line soft core porn (which isn't a bad thing) since that seems to be the high light of the film. I think it looks as though the characters confuse love with lust. If this Movie was rated R or (X) and titled "I lust for Beth copper" it might get a higher score. If i ever see this film, I will watch this film with low expectations based on the reviews. But reviews are some times to hash and sour and I often I have different opinions than critics. so I will have to see it to give it a more accurate rating.
Tom L gave it a10:
I didn't see this. And won't see it, because it looks like it sucks. But I voted a ten anyway, just for all of the illegal things I would do to Hayden Panettiere. I mean, hackneyed, unoriginal, crappy, worthless. Whatever you want to call this movie, I think it should still get credit for being one of those brave films to show teens acting in soft-soft core porn.
Ricky Q gave it a4:
I went into this with very low expectations which were met, but that isn't necessarily a good thing. The problem here is that the movie is neither very funny nor sweet. Teen humour has been done much better before, though there are a few chuckles here and there. The chemistry between the two main characters is also non-existent. I was surprised to find that this boring movie was written by former Simpsons writer Larry Doyle. If your a big Hayden Panettiere fan (as I am) you might get some enjoyment from this movie, but it's still not worth the price of admission.
Jim F gave it a7:
This charming, smartly done teen sex comedy worked for me in a way that I thought "Adventureland" would, but didn't. The three leads are charming, with Panetierre seeming to embody the desirable adventurousness of Britney Spears, while Paul Rust is smart and soulful. It's a coming of age film for those who went to school in the "Star Wars" era, which makes its PG-13 sexuality both appropriate and nostalgic. And if the manic gags often seem contrived and overdone, the characters and sentiments at the heart of the story are real and convincing.
