I Love You, Beth Cooper

Although director Chris Columbus has helmed several successful films (including Home Alone, Adventures in Babysitting, Mrs. Doubtfire, and the first two Harry Potter movies), something went terribly awry with this lame teen comedy. Egged on by his geeky, movie-obsessed best friend Rich (Jack T. Carpenter), Buffalo Grove High School's dorky valedictorian Denis Cooverman (Paul Rust) decides to boldly “seize the day” at graduation and express his adoration for popular blonde cheerleader Beth Cooper (Hayden Panettiere) and disdain for her ROTC-member boyfriend Kevin (Shawn Roberts). Fully expecting humiliation and rejection, Denis is stunned when Beth shows up at his one-guest grad-night “party”—along with two catty cheerleader chums—and is eventually pursued by drug-addled, revenge-seeking Kevin and a pair of his menacing friends. All of this leads to a night-long binge of mischief, merriment, and public humiliation as stereotypical characters blather banal dialogue (from writer Larry Doyle's formulaic screenplay, adapted from his coming-of-age novel). Although he looks younger, Rust is actually 28 (which is a bit creepy), while Panettiere (Heroes) essentially reprises her perky TV persona (minus the superpowers). A featherweight farce, this is not recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a “We Are All Different, But That's a Good Thing” making-of featurette (9 min.), an “I Love You, Larry Doyle” featurette on the writer (6 min.), “In Character” with costars Hayden Panettiere and Paul Rust (6 min.), deleted scenes (8 min.), an alternate ending (7 min.), a “Peanut Butter Toast” song featuring Rust, and trailers. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a disappointing film.] (S. Granger)