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Review #198 of 365
Film: John Tucker Must Die [PG-13] 87 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $11.75
Where Viewed: UA Denver Pavilions 15,Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 28 July 2006
Time: 8:00 p.m.
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DVD | soundtrack |
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
Despite the gravity of the sound of its vengeful title, John Tucker Must Die, the former "Hill Street Blues" cop-turned director Betty Thomas film turns out be a surprisingly funny film chock full of life lessons that, whether true or not, we have been led to believe by most other current movies and television shows about teenagers are much needed. The preview was humorous and, perhaps, does give away some of the films best comedic part. What it fails to do is reveal the films other side. Again, despite the title, the film is really not so much about Jesse "Desperate Housewives" Metcalfe's character, John Tucker, rather it is about Brittany "Nip/Tuck" and "American Dreams" Snow's character, Kate. Being raised and moved around from town to town by single and gorgeous mom Lori (Jenny McCarthy), Kate has developed a thick skin, low self-esteem a near inability to make friends paired, and the power to turn invisible. Actually, no, she cannot turn invisible, she only feels invisible most of the time due to her plethora of normal teenage emotional issues amplified by her mother's self-destructive dating habits which, if anything, are downplayed and turned for comedic value when they really quite seriously impacting Kate's life. So for their umpteenth move to avoid the most recent "Skip"—the name Kate has 'affectionately' bestowed onto every one of her mother's one-date wonders, Kate ends up at another high school. This one happens to be 'owned' by most popular boy, John Tucker. He's the captain of the basketball time and a self-proclaimed ladies man who sets his sights on absolutely every attractive girl in the school. Kate soon discovers due to her part time job in a local bistro that Mr. Tucker is dating fairly seriously three girls using the same lines and the same excuse that his father will not allow him to date during basketball season so their relationship must be kept a secret. Smart, good looking, and bearing every smooth operator gene known to exist on the Y chromosome, he knows how to woo the ladies and make them feel like they are his one and only. He selects young women from different cliques so they would be unlikely, in his mind, to ever talk to each other and discover their mutual entanglement. A change encounter in PE class, ironically caused by John himself when his good looks cause a PE teacher to have a mild coronary arrest causes all three girls to be in the same PE class for one fateful morning ever after known as Black Tuesday for in the process of starting a volleyball match, they discover the truth of his ways. Kate gets drawn into the mix and helps the other three: Carrie (Arielle Kebbel), Heather (Ashanti), and Beth (Sophia Bush) refocus their collective energy from anger to getting even. Meanwhile, Kate runs into Scott (Penn Badgley) also known as "the other Tucker" who is John's younger more mysterious, more 90s kind of guy with long hair, a real taste in music, a genuine heart, and an eye for Kate.
"…smart performances, script, and directing, should be a real summer hit."
What he doesn't figure out right away, and his brother never figures out, is that the four young women have decided to extract the ultimate revenge from John--they set out to break his heart for real and teach him the lesson of a lifetime. Much to their chagrin, their early plans further John's reputation rather than impugning it, and they have to take things up a notch by doing a Cinderella number on Kate, and luring John into their elaborate scheme to get him to fall for Kate and then "rip her right out from under him".
Fortunately for those of us who have grown quite tired of teen comedies that continually stoop to the lowest common denominator, this film was directed by Betty Thomas and written Jeff Lowell, two very smart people. Mr. Lowell, while mostly a writer for television, has been involved with cleverly written shows like "Sports Night", "Just Shoot Me!", Spin City", and "Cybill". Their collective intelligence shines through many, many times when this film could have become derivative and crude. Instead, the kids in this high school actually go to chemistry class, Kate knows what a meniscus in a graduated cylinder is for example, and each of the young women, is a multi-layered person, though Heather, the sometimes plastic head cheerleader, and Beth, the vegan animal right's activist who seems to be the most sexually adventurous of the group, serve a bit too much as archetypes for the some of the less parentally desired traits for daughters. Nonetheless, the depth of each of the characters in the film, raises the bar and, with any luck, will help cause future projects to consider both the messages they send and the types of humor they employ. Perhaps we never again need to see French toast being abused back in the kitchen prior to being served in a teen comedy. The only stunt the young women pulled that I thought was of very questionable moral and scientific ethics was the supplementing of John's protein powders with Heather's mother's estrogen pills. Obviously, experimenting on him by giving him massive quantities of estrogen was both illegal and highly risky. The results were stereotypical rather than scientifically accurate as he begins to become an emotional mess on the basketball court. Obviously, levels of estrogen in the blood do not necessarily make a person more or less emotionally charged. It is important to note that both men and women have levels of estrogen and testosterone in their blood (with the estrogen levels exceeding testosterone, in general, in women and vice-versa in men). So, shifting the levels would have real biological effects similar to hormone therapy in transgendered people or in older people on hormone supplement therapy. This was the one stunt they pulled that certainly could have been altered in a way that would have been less unethical and stereotypical. Still, throughout the film, the characters demonstrate real growth in every way, including Kate's mother, and ultimately John Tucker himself—though he does slide back a bit in the very end.
In general, the film is extremely well-conceived, hilarious, and even-handed in its treatment of the both the shallow and the purposeful teenage characters today. The moral of the story is a very good one, from which everyone who sees the film can learn. It is about learning to be yourself not whom you think others desire you to be, believing in yourself, being honest, and rising above the ordinary. None of these life lessons would be wasted on any of us. Overall, this film, with its smart performances, script, and directing, should be a real summer hit.
Fortunately for those of us who have grown quite tired of teen comedies that continually stoop to the lowest common denominator, this film was directed by Betty Thomas and written Jeff Lowell, two very smart people. Mr. Lowell, while mostly a writer for television, has been involved with cleverly written shows like "Sports Night", "Just Shoot Me!", Spin City", and "Cybill". Their collective intelligence shines through many, many times when this film could have become derivative and crude. Instead, the kids in this high school actually go to chemistry class, Kate knows what a meniscus in a graduated cylinder is for example, and each of the young women, is a multi-layered person, though Heather, the sometimes plastic head cheerleader, and Beth, the vegan animal right's activist who seems to be the most sexually adventurous of the group, serve a bit too much as archetypes for the some of the less parentally desired traits for daughters. Nonetheless, the depth of each of the characters in the film, raises the bar and, with any luck, will help cause future projects to consider both the messages they send and the types of humor they employ. Perhaps we never again need to see French toast being abused back in the kitchen prior to being served in a teen comedy. The only stunt the young women pulled that I thought was of very questionable moral and scientific ethics was the supplementing of John's protein powders with Heather's mother's estrogen pills. Obviously, experimenting on him by giving him massive quantities of estrogen was both illegal and highly risky. The results were stereotypical rather than scientifically accurate as he begins to become an emotional mess on the basketball court. Obviously, levels of estrogen in the blood do not necessarily make a person more or less emotionally charged. It is important to note that both men and women have levels of estrogen and testosterone in their blood (with the estrogen levels exceeding testosterone, in general, in women and vice-versa in men). So, shifting the levels would have real biological effects similar to hormone therapy in transgendered people or in older people on hormone supplement therapy. This was the one stunt they pulled that certainly could have been altered in a way that would have been less unethical and stereotypical. Still, throughout the film, the characters demonstrate real growth in every way, including Kate's mother, and ultimately John Tucker himself—though he does slide back a bit in the very end.
In general, the film is extremely well-conceived, hilarious, and even-handed in its treatment of the both the shallow and the purposeful teenage characters today. The moral of the story is a very good one, from which everyone who sees the film can learn. It is about learning to be yourself not whom you think others desire you to be, believing in yourself, being honest, and rising above the ordinary. None of these life lessons would be wasted on any of us. Overall, this film, with its smart performances, script, and directing, should be a real summer hit.
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Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
John Tucker Must Die [DVD](2006)
Projects Featuring:
Jesse Metcalfe
• Brittany Snow • Ashanti Sophia Bush
• Arielle Kebbel • Penn BadgleyJenny McCarthy
Projects Directed by or Featuring:
Betty Thomas
| CD Soundtrack | VHS | DVD |
| Related DVD | Related DVD | Related CD |
John Tucker Must Die (2006) Review-lite [150-word cap]
John Tucker Must Die, directed by Betty "Hill Street Blues" Thomas and written by Jeff "Spin City" Lowell is extremely well-conceived, hilarious, and even-handed in its treatment of the both the shallow and the purposeful teenage characters today. The moral of the story is a very good one, from which everyone who sees the film can learn. It is about learning to be yourself not whom you think others desire you to be, believing in yourself, being honest, and rising above the ordinary. None of these life lessons would be wasted on any of us. Overall, this film, with its smart performances, script, and directing, should be a real summer hit.
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