While watching the very formula, but reasonably appealing trailer for I LOVE YOU, BETH COOPER, I found myself wondering why Chris Columbus opted to abandon the teen comedy genre for bloated event pictures like BICENTENNIAL MAN and the first two (and least enjoyable) Harry Potter movies. I mean, you can't fault a guy for cashing in on a windfall like HOME ALONE, but all he did from 1990 on was hack it up for the studios. Even if you're clocking eight-figure paychecks on the regular, that's got to get old after a while.
Columbus surprised to a degree with RENT (your mileage may vary wildly), but he was still working against his strengths. So it's nice to see him closer to his ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING wheelhouse with I LOVE YOU, BETH COOPER, which is based on Larry Doyle's Hughes-ian novel about an unpopular valedictorian getting caught up in a wild night with the unreasonably nubile girl of his dreams. Sure, the trailer contains a number of trite visual gags (nothing worse than an angry CG animal), but, overall, the tone feels right. And Hayden Panettiere looks awfully convincing as the titular teen temptress.
See for yourself.
But beware! This is a 20th Century Fox production.
I LOVE YOU, BETH COOPER opens wide on July 10th, 2009.
