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John Tucker Must Die
Metascore
41 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 27 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 27
  3. Negative: 4 out of 27
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  1. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Kyle Smith
    88
    A slumber-party classic that belongs on the same shelf as "Bring It On" and "10 Things I Hate About You." This high-school comedy should do for its 20-year-old star, Brittany Snow, what those movies did for Kirsten Dunst and Julia Stiles.
  2. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Angel Cohn
    75
    Surprisingly entertaining, if less than original.
  3. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    70
    Betty Thomas, directing a script by TV veteran Jeff Lowell, seems uncertain whether to sympathize with her three heroines or with the title cad, but there's something mildly charming about this cheerful revenge comedy's lack of any straightforward moral agenda.
  4. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Chris Kaltenbach
    67
    What it does have is the laughs.
  5. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Connie Ogle
    63
    A briskly-paced, refreshing kick in this season of draggy, two-hour-plus movies. The film is smarter and funnier than its trailers indicate, and, as a bonus, there are no superheroes, pirates or Wilson brothers to be found.
  6. Premiere
    Reviewed by: Nick Taylor
    63
    Although mixing teen humor with sentiment will never be done as well as in "American Pie," John Tucker Must Die has just enough heart to entertain the "MySpace" set.
  7. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Scott Foundas
    60
    The performers are a bright bunch, especially Snow (even if she's no sane person's idea of a wallflower), Metcalfe, who has the cocksure swagger of a young Travolta, and McCarthy, who infuses her few scenes with a haggard dignity masquerading as optimism.
  8. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Jessica Reaves
    50
    Reasonably entertaining.
  9. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Elizabeth Weitzman
    50
    Every woman falls for the wrong guy at least once in her life. This week, it's Betty Thomas' turn.
  10. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Tirdad Derakhshani
    50
    Too cute by half, the high school comedy John Tucker Must Die is just so likable, so, um, cute - in that helpless-bunny-wabbit sort of way - that to diss it would be to admit being a heartless, cynical Bambi-killer.
  11. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Ruthe Stein
    50
    Something to see and occasionally even to laugh at.
  12. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    50
    The movie starts out cleverly enough but grows insipid as the girls' antics become more predictable.
  13. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    50
    The movie is as inconsequentially pleasant as its star, and far nicer than the title lets on, too.
  14. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: M. E. Russell
    50
    Getting worked up about John Tucker Must Die is a bit like getting worked up about the taste of flan.
  15. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Sean Axmaker
    50
    The film lacks the nerve for any genuinely nasty fun or comic bite.
  16. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Jeannette Catsoulis
    50
    Penn Badgley is wildly charismatic in the role of John Tucker's younger brother. The entire picture could hang on his cheekbones alone. If only Mr. Metcalfe shared his talents.
  17. Variety
    Reviewed by: Justin Chang
    50
    Predictable developments are more or less redeemed by spirited execution and the pleasures of an able, good-looking cast.
  18. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Nathan Rabin
    50
    Revenge movies often end with the message that vengeance is empty and futile, but it's never encouraging when revenge seems pointless from the start.
  19. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Kirk Honeycutt
    40
    Lame and unconvincing teen comedy.
  20. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Michael Ferraro
    40
    Its storyline is very predictable and cliché but teen girls will no doubt have a good time with this movie anyway.
  21. Empire
    Reviewed by: Anna Smith
    40
    A load of formulaic nonsense that should still turn a few young heads thanks to its fantasy plot and Jesse Metcalfe's chest
  22. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Steve Davis
    40
    John Tucker Must Die will undoubtedly fade into obscurity like so many silly and sentimental teen comedies before it.
  23. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Ann Hornaday
    40
    But despite doing its best to jiggle, giggle and ogle its way into a niche somewhere between "Heathers" and "American Pie," it becomes just another forgettable pastiche of sight gags and pop-culture references.
  24. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    38
    John Tucker Must Die is toothless. The jokes are obvious and unfunny, the storyline goes nowhere that's interesting or unexpected, and the only chemistry happens in a science lab.
  25. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Gregory Kirschling
    25
    Astonishingly (and offensively), the witless ending comes down harder on the women than the cad.
  26. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Michael Atkinson
    10
    Whatever the target demographic was in the pre-production phase, now it's limited to sexually active 14-year-olds still retaking the sixth grade.
  27. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    0
    Awful.
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User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.5 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 39 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 23
  3. Negative: 5 out of 23
  1. Spielberg00
    1
    Bottom Line: This film is dumb. D-U-M-B, dumb. There are three aspects to a comedy that should immediately tell you it’s something terrible: 1. It’s unrealistic. 2. Laughing takes effort. 3. By the ending, you are convinced you have psychic abilities because you predicted the way the film would close within the first five minutes. Alongside all the terrible performances and countless scenes of humiliation that is bound to elicit lots of eye-rolling, JOHN TUCKER MUST DIE is a film defined in its entirety by those three components. The film starts out with a narration from the high school-aged main character–an unnecessary head-scratcher, as we hear very, very little narration throughout the whole rest of the film–about how she loooves John Tucker so much. (Oh, boy! As if we even care!) It then continues on to reveal that Tucker, though apparently attractive, is a “chick magnet”, and he forms relationships with countless girls all at once. Later, after an incident with volleyball rough-housing, three ex-girlfriends (pardon me, I meant SOON-TO-BE ex-girlfriends) of John Tucker and the main character, who has never dated before in her life, serve detention together. As the teacher only comes in for a mere twenty seconds, the three ex-girlfriends (I mean, SOON-TO-BE) have a chance to realize that they are all being dated simultaneously, something the other girl already knew, and that he really isn’t that great of a boyfriend, anyhow. (Gee, that’s what you get for looking at body and not mind, nimrods!) From there on, the film describes an overly long and excruciatingly unrealistic depiction of the three girls’ executed plot for revenge against John Tucker. Maybe if this were something like a two-minute YouTube video staging the humiliation of a high school ladies’ man, it would be watchable and even possibly cute. But with 89 minutes (praise the Lord it’s no longer!) of behind-the-scenes filled with eye-rollers and insiders on girl talk that are supposed to be funny, the humiliation scenes (especially the one in which the girls cause John Tucker to break out crying in front of the whole school during a basketball game) just don’t even remotely work out. The film just tries and tries (and tries) ever so terribly hard, but it never gets anywhere. The most dreadful thing about this film was it’s overall tendency to be unrealistic. For example, if this were actual, somebody would have at some point found out about who was behind the whole “revenge” gist, but it seems the only detention (or consequence at all!) in this film is prior to all those incidents. If making bad films were a crime, there would even be signs up today that said: “WANTED: JOHN TUCKER MUST DIE (THE FILM, NOT A PERSON) – REWARD AMOUNTS TO THE FILM’S BOX OFFICE REVENUE–USE IT TO PAY BACK WHOEVER WASTED THEIR MONEY”.… Full Review »
  2. JamesNWA
    7
    In truth, not a bad movie. However, I agree with people who have said it is trying to be too much like Mean Girls. The plot was somewhat predictable in the fact that you knew what was going to happen with Kate and Tucker. Despite the predictable elements, the script is well written and the film on the whole isn't TOO bad.… Full Review »
  3. MafTan
    8
    Pretty good and funny.
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