Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Somewhere inside I Love You, Beth Cooper, there lies a high-school comedy in the same vein as the great John Hughes movies of the 1980s, writes CHRISTY LEMIRE.
Under the staggeringly mediocre direction of Chris Columbus (Home Alone, the first two Harry Potter movies), it never springs to life.
All the pieces are in place: the nerdy guy, the popular girl, the quirky friends, the all night adventures and the obligatory house-trashing bash. But the pacing feels stagnant and the antics simply aren't inventive enough.
There seemed to be potential from the start too, in the script from Larry Doyle, based on his novel. Instead of spouting generic platitudes about chasing your dreams, geeky valedictorian Denis Cooverman (Paul Rust) uses his graduation speech as an opportunity to tell head cheerleader Beth Cooper (Hayden Panettiere) that he's secretly been in love with her since the seventh grade.
He also gets some sly revenge on the kids who've tormented him his whole life by calling them out for their cruelties and insecurities.
