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Metascore

Generally unfavorable - based on 30 Critics What's this?

User Score

Mixed or average reviews- based on 39 Ratings

  • Starring: Hayden Panettiere, Paul Rust
  • Summary: Buffalo Grove High School valedictorian Denis Cooverman has had quite an academic career...on paper, at least. Superlative student, conscientious young gentleman and patently obvious dork, Denis has played it safe and made it all the way to graduation day without ever having really experienced some of the joys of higher learning: breaking curfew, destruction of property, over-consumption of alcohol, fist fights, late nights, fast cars or faster women (actually, women of any sort). But all of that is about to change, and all by uttering five little words: I LOVE YOU, BETH COOPER. (20th Century Fox) Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 30
  2. Negative: 15 out of 30
  1. The story is timeless; this could have taken place when Doyle graduated in '76 -- or any year, really, since the effects of high school linger throughout adult life and nerds are forever.
  2. 50
    Of the two co-stars, what I can say is that I’m looking forward to their next films.
  3. The film quickly turns unintentionally, and unrelentingly, awkward.

See all 30 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 13
  2. Negative: 3 out of 13
  1. i think it is a very funny movie and very creative because it has a lot of things that other movies doesn't have, and the actors make their job very good, CONGRATS! Expand
  2. ChadS.
    5
    "I Love You, Beth Cooper" is sort of like "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist", but without any of Michael Cera or Kat Dennings' hipster cool. Songs by Against Me and The Hives come off sounding inorganic in the film's respective car scenes, because no matter how fast Beth Cooper(Hayden Panettiere) drives, neither the cheerleader nor the "Star Wars"-obsessed nerd seem cool enough for either band. Working within the parameters of its PG-13 rating, the film relies a lot on Beth's reckless proclivity for speed, much like the Prince song "Little Red Corvette"("baby you're much too fast"), as a metaphor for her latent sexuality. "I guess I shoulda known by the way u parked your car sideways that it wouldn't last," observed the pre-emancipated, pre-unpronouncable icon, pre-purple dynamo circa 1982, who knew exactly how Denis Cooverman(Paul Rust) felt in the ensuing moments after Beth parks her Yaris(not sideways, alas, in a lot) outside a convenience store. When the sales clerk refuses to sell her alcohol, she propositions him: a kiss for the beer, which sounds conspicuously tame coming from a girl who has "hello" embroidered on her panties. Back in the car, Denis' horrified reaction to this Production Code era bit of hanky panky between two horny teenagers seems overblown. To avoid an R rating, "I Love You, Beth Cooper" unintentionally reverts to the social mores of the fifties, contrary to its contemporary trappings. Beth is fast, but not fast enough. To Denis' horror, Beth made the first move; she kissed the clerk, for a lousy six-pack of beer. Just imagine his reaction if the film wasn't so coy, and his dream girl did something more provocative than "suck face for two seconds". It's interesting how the erotic limitations of a PG-13 rating allows Denis to remake the sexually active Beth into a virgin. Expand
  3. GnarlesS.
    1
    How can such a funny book be made into this dreg? The male lead was awful and the dialogue was unfunny. This is the kind of movie that makes everyone in the audience think, "I could write movies a lot better than this!" Expand

See all 13 User Reviews