For Oscar-winning “Juno” writer Diablo Cody, writing “Jennifer’s Body” with “Transformers” star Megan Fox and “Mamma Mia!” star Amanda Seyfried as the two lead women was as much of an out-of-body experience as Charlize Theron’s against-type role in 2003’s “Monster”. The difference? Theron nailed it; Cody bloodied this bold opportunity.
Since our Nov. 2007 interview with Cody for the Oscar-winning “Juno,” she’s as quick with her wit in person as she is with her pen for the screen.
While an early reading of the “Jennifer’s Body” script showed promise, once it hit the screen Cody’s razor-sharp wit was blunted against the mismatched backdrop of two female leads who couldn’t sell the script and the overarching horror tone that the talented Cody hasn’t yet mastered.
Like “Juno,” you still hear Cody’s obscure and uniquely twisted pop-culture references. Like “Juno,” you once again travel with Cody as she deftly maneuvers the cliché without being so.
Like “Juno,” Cody has found another way to inject the importance of relationships into strong female roles. But “Jennifer’s Body” more than disappoints – and, in fact, offends considering the prodigy who wrote it – on three primal levels.
