I Love You, Beth Cooper

  • Review Date: July 9, 2009
  • PG-13
  • Genre: Comedy
  • 2009
 Review

Common Sense Media says

Forgettable teen comedy has lots of sex and drinking.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this is a review of the movie shown in theaters and not the unrated version with an alternate ending available on DVD.Parents also need to know that this deplorable teen comedy targets teens especially since it stars Heroes cheerleader Hayden Panettiere. But the movie is full of consequence-free underage drinking and teen sex. Teens drink beer, hard liquor, and champagne (the latter supplied by parents) and drive after doing so. Characters have a threesome (though nothing explicit is shown), there's a running conversation about one character's sexual orientation, and teen girls' naked backs are shown during a titillating locker room scene. Language is notably strong for a PG-13 movie, including "f--k" and many uses of "s--t." The main character also gets beaten up a lot, and his parents are iffy role models at best, providing the aforementioned alcohol and essentially encouraging him to have sex.

  • Yes, the movie is saying that high school need not be the peak of a popular teenager's existence, but there are a lot of misleading messages as well. Denis calls the crazy night of party hopping, law breaking, and hooking up "best night" of his life and the only part of high school he'll remember. And there are very few consequences for any of the teens' behavior; in fact, Denis' dad practically congratulates him on his wild night. On the plus side, Denis does help Beth feel better about herself and her future.
  • Although Denis is surprisingly sweet and gentlemanly, Beth isn't a particularly positive role model for girls. Except for the fact that she seems to listen to Denis' advice, Beth thinks nothing of exploiting her looks to get alcohol, driving so recklessly that she commits a hit and run, "teasing" Denis by revealing her naked body to him, and otherwise reveling in her "most popular girl" status. Denis' parents also score pretty low on the role model scale -- they provide him with alcohol for his (unsupervised) graduation party, tell him where to find condoms, and seem more congratulatory than angry when he shows up after being gone all night without word. There's also a lot of stereotyping of the typical high school movie variety -- nerds, popular kids, jocks, etc.
  • Denis is beaten up several times by Beth's pumped-up boyfriend and his equally buff pals. He ends up with visible, bleeding wounds and bruises. There are fist fights, jumps/falls out of windows, car crashes, and one humorous towel fight.
  • Several sexual situations and conversations, though only one actual "sex" scene ... which is a threesome. Two teen girls proposition a virginal boy and start kissing him; the next scene shows them all in bed together, with the sheets pulled up under their arms. Beth and her two friends also undress and shower in front of a guy, but you only see bare backs. Denis drops his pants and spends a scene or two in just his underwear. Conversations about erections, sexual orientation (one character may or not be gay), and misusing sexuality (Beth makes out with a clerk in order to buy beer). Plenty of innuendo and some additional kissing; at one point, Denis' head ends up in Beth's lap, and he sees her panties. Denis' dad tells him where to find his own stash of condoms and implicitly encourages Denis and Rich to have sex; later, Denis' parents are shown making out in a car -- when his dad's cell phone vibrates because a call is coming in, he proceeds to tuck it down his wife's skirt.
  • Surprisingly frequent use of strong language for a PG-13 film, including one use of "f--k" and many of "s--t." Other words include "p---y," "a--hole," "bitch," "hell," "oh my God," "damn," "boners," "slut," "goddamn," "ass," etc.
  • Mostly cars: Toyota Yaris and Hummer. Other brands shown/mentioned by name include Suzy Qs, Eggo waffles, Spider-Man underpants, and assorted other convenience store snacks/drinks.
  • Frequent underage drinking, including beer, hard liquor, and champagne (the latter provided by Denis' parents for his graduation party). Teens also purchase alcohol from a cashier who knows they're minors and drive cars after drinking (though it's never implied that they're completely drunk while driving). Occasional cigarette smoking; discussion of being drunk and what champagne "makes" one girl do (the implication is that it leads to sex). Discussion of cocaine use by Beth's older, angry boyfriend and his friends.

What's the story?

Denis Cooverman (Paul Rust) is your typical geeky high school valedictorian -- except he decides to announce his unrequited love for titular head cheerleader Beth Cooper (Hayden Panettiere) during his graduation speech. Thinking it would be funny, Beth and her mean-girl BFFs pick up Denis and his pop-culture-obsessed best friend Rich (Jack Carpenter) for a wild and crazy graduation night, during which Denis realizes the actual Beth Cooper might not live up to his idealized expectations.


Is it any good?

 

Director Chris Columbus is no stranger to teen-friendly fodder. Long before he was the original Harry Potter auteur, he began his directing career with 1987's Adventures in Babysitting, a tween/teen classic. It's a shame that two decades later, he seems to have completely lost the mojo to portray teens as anything but ridiculous stereotypes. Denis is not a high-school Everyman like the freshmen in Dazed and Confused, the cool-but-eccentric seniors of Superbad, or even the brilliantly developed, funny-as-anything outcasts of John Hughes lore. He's a homely, formulaic nerd, and Beth, it seems, is headed to prison for DUI and vehicular manslaughter instead of community college.

While a few scenes are worthy of a couple of laughs, the only memorable aspect of I LOVE YOU, BETH COOPER is the wink-wink fact that Denis' father is none other than Alan Ruck, who once played Ferris Bueller's best friend. Watching Cameron -- he of the Ferrari-driving father -- will remind parents in the audience of their own screen touchstones, which were infinitely better.


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What families can talk about

  • Families can talk about teenage sexuality. How is it portrayed here? Is that realistic? Why would Denis' dad encourage him to have sex? Parents, talk to your teens about your own family's values when it comes to sex.

  • What about the underage drinking? Is it as common as the movie suggests? What are the consequences of drinking in real life?

  • Are the movie's stereotypes funny? Are all cheerleaders mean and all valedictorians nerds? Can you think of teen movies that don't follow these "rules"? How does this movie compare to the classics in the teen genre?


This review was written by Sandie Angulo Chen
Teen, 15 years old
March 13, 2010
 
I love u
I really liked it but there ere some bad parts. There is a lot of drugs and alcahol and drugs in the movie.

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Teen, 18 years old
November 16, 2009
 
Good comedy for teens!
I love this movie! There was somethings that didnt need to be in there like this guy had a threesome but they didnt show it.. there was some violence but not too much.. This movie is really funny!

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Parent of 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, and 18 year old
October 8, 2009
 
I Cried In The Ending When They Left. Good Movie For Kids 12 And Up.

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Adult
September 19, 2009
 
not that bad
the movie is mature and really shouldnt be exposed to younger teens. unfortunaltly, there are older teens in highschool who act like this so as vulgur or whatever as it was, it was pretty accurate. typical teen movie and overall i dont think it was that bad. although i was a little distracted by that guys obscenely huge nose. what was that???

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Kid, 13 years old
May 13, 2010
 
Boo....
My sister's girl scout troop watched this, and this is so not for them. This movie bites. Bad.

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Adult
April 19, 2010
 
Not bad
I watched this with a friend of mine. We both laughed throughout but there were still some parts that disturbed us a bit. It's probably not the best movie to watch in mixed company (with boys. I wouldn't, anyways). I also probably wouldn't let my younger siblings watch it until they were 16 or 17. Pretty funny if you like pointless cheesy romantic comedies (which I do :D).

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Teen, 15 years old
April 10, 2010
 
Great movie for a sleepover!!!
This was a great movie!!! I watched it at a sleepover and it was perfect!!

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Teen, 13 years old
November 29, 2011
 
good movie
pretty good :)

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Teen, 16 years old
May 29, 2010
 
awesome!!!
This was totally a LOL movie I watched it on the computer, it made me laugh SO hard!!

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Teen, 17 years old
November 4, 2009
 
Loved this movie
This movie was hilarious. My mom and i laughed throughout this whole entire movie, but i must say to other parents that are not sure if their kids can watch it, this movie is a litle bit over the edge. It does have sexual discussions and some iffy sexual content throughout the movie and some drinking, but that's pretty much all you really need to worry about. I would reccommend this to anyone who loves teen comedys like this one.

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This review was written by Sandie Angulo Chen
Studio:Twentieth Century Fox
Director:Chris Columbus
Cast:Hayden Panettiere, Jack Carpenter, Paul Rust
Genre:Comedy
Run time:102 minutes
Theatrical release date:July 10, 2009
DVD release date:November 3, 2009
MPAA rating:PG-13
MPAA explanation:crude and sexual content, language, some teen drinking and drug references, and brief violence

This review was written by Sandie Angulo Chen
 

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

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