John Tucker Must Die Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)July 27th, 2006
JOHN TUCKER MUST DIE
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2006 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2
JOHN TUCKER MUST DIE is a teen comedy that has no reason to work. It's a formula film, it's predictable, it's basically a cable TV movie, and it's cast with child actors known mainly only to other kids.
Although it's not great, it actually works surprisingly well and is quite charming. Even if there is nothing in it that you haven't seen before, the film is wonderfully good spirited and has many nice little laughs. It also eschews the popular turn into a semi-serious and preachy third act that tries to beat some big message into our heads.
The setup concerns John Tucker (Jesse Metcalfe), the big man on campus at Forest Hills High School. A walking cliché, he is a rich jock who is the captain of their championship basketball team and apparently their highest scorer. He is also a player in the school's social scene. Currently dating Heather (Ashanti), Beth (Sophia Bush) and Carrie (Arielle Kebbel) simultaneously, he is able to cheat on the three girls since he carefully picked girls in different cliques so they wouldn't be likely to ever talk with each other. Heather is the head cheerleader, Beth is a vegetarian and Carrie runs the school's television network.
One day the girls are thrown together in PE class, and they discover the truth, leading to a brawl. Caught in the middle is Kate (Brittany Snow), the new kid who always thought she was socially invisible. Later in detention the four girls eventually come up with a scheme to get even with John, by embarrassing him, thus removing his allure to his fellow classmates. But, no matter what they try, John ends up becoming even more adorable and in demand than ever before. Rather than killing John's popularity, the girls only manage to increase it.
Their final, big plan is for Kate to start dating John, but being a tease and just leading him on. For every question he asks, Kate is supposed to count to three before answering it. And, when he eventually falls head-over-heels for her, she is supposed to dump him, thereby showing him how much deceit can hurt. Of course, Kate ends up falling for John.
One of the differences in the script is that none of the girls play the role of the generic bitch, which has become obligatory in teen comedies. They are all quite likeable, as is John, even if he does spread himself a bit too thin. Another difference is that this is a PG-13 film that is actually rather mild.
As a teen comedy, this one is both sweet and funny, without being raunchy. Surely there is a place in the world for innocent little films like this. Let's hope so.
JOHN TUCKER MUST DIE runs 1:27. It is rated PG-13 for "sexual content and language" and would be acceptable for kids around 10 and up.
My son Jeffrey, age 17, gave the film ***. He found the comedy fresh and fun. He said it was a solid B movie with lots of funny lines.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, July 28, 2006. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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