Jennifer's Body Not So Hot

Megan Fox vehicle Jennifer's Body hits the screen today, and most if not all critics are unimpressed by this horror-comedy about a high school girl possessed by the devil.

• "Jennifer's Body has an impressive writer in Diablo Cody, who won an Oscar for Juno, writes Claudia Puig of USA Today, but "it tries hard to be cool, gross, and nasty. It feels forced and misses the mark. Fox wears shiny lip gloss well, but Cody's acid tongue and snippy quips aren't convincing coming from her mouth."

• "It's a paint-by-numbers story" that misses all its opportunities for fun and "doesn't even work as straight horror," says Toronto Star critic Peter Howell. "It comes across as Diablo Cody lite, something she seems to have dashed off in between talk show appearances and updating her MySpace page."
• New York Times critic AO Scott is much kinder—the film is "an unholy mess, and I mean that as a compliment." Even Fox's "blunt, blank affect" is part of the pleasure. He predicts the film will win "a devoted cult following, despite its flaws."

(More movie review stories.)