Reviews of "Jennifer's Body," "The Informant," and "The Baader-Meinhoff Complex."

Jennifer’s Body
Director: Karyn Kusama
With: Amanda Seyfried, Megan Fox, Johnny Simmons, J.K. Simmons

Megan Fox (Jennifer) tells us she wants to be taken seriously.  So far, she has been scantily-clad eye candy in the Transformer movies.  So, she hitched her wagon to screenwriter Diablo Cody.
Cody is on the Young Hollywood A-List.  She has an Oscar for Juno, a column in Entertainment Weekly, tattoos and way-cool BFFs.
As much as I liked Juno, I felt that the script was a little too smart for its own good.  Was Juno, a high school girl, really that witty and self-aware?  I guess it could happen...
This movie is a horror flick/social satire.  Jennifer and Needy (Seyfried), yes, that is the character name in the credits, have been friends since they were children, By high school, Jennifer is a sex bomb, and at 22 looks much older, and Needy is a grind and a bit of a nerd.
After a disastrous fire in a night club, Jennifer is abducted by the band, who turn out to be Satanists, and, because of a botched ceremony, you see, turn her into a voracious demon.  She seduces boys, all of whom were in her spell before the change, and guts them.  Literally.  She needs to feed, and looks old and tired between feedings.
(You know, as I type this out, it gets more and more ridiculous.)
Anyway, Needy catches on that something is very, very wrong, and tries to help her friend.  But, Jennifer is beyond help.  The story has its dramatic climax, can you guess?, at a school dance.
I must admit that as I was watching this I laughed and got taken in by it.  In the cold light of day, it just seems silly and too smart-ass.
Fox may be looking for a breakout role, but this flick belongs to Seyfried, who brings real feeling and commitment to her character.  Fox, as usual, is window dressing.  Or, undressing in this case.
Cody has talent, and Fox may as well.  Not enough of it is evident in Jennifer’s Body.  On the other hand, they weren’t going for Citizen Kane here.
C
Opening wide, 9/18


The Informant
Director: Steven Soderbergh
With: Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Tony Hale, Melanie Lynskey

Soderbergh is not always consistent in his directing choices, or in his craft.  The Ocean’s 11 (etc.) movies were mildly amusing at best, but he also gave us Erin Brockovich.
With The Informant, he has worked the best of his sly humor on a whistel-blower story with a twist.  Mark Whitacre (Damon, pudged out) works for Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), a real multi-national agri-corporation.  He becomes disturbed by what he sees as sleazy business practices, and rats out ADM to the FBI. 
So many initials...
Anyway, two agents (Bakula and Hale) enlist a willing, eager Whitacre as an informant.  He leads them to secret price-fixing meetings with an international clientele.  And, Whitacre seems to be a natural as an informant.
Then, things start to go due south.  I won’t spoil any more of the plot, because this movie is just too entertaining and funny, and not a little loony.  Add to this that much of the cast are current or former stand-up comics, including both Smothers Brothers in small roles.
Damon is just great, funny and obviously having a terrific time in the part.  Bakula and Hale make the most out of the bewildered FBI guys, and Lynskey is sweet as Whitacre’s loyal wife.
See this movie.
A-
Opening wide, 9/18


The Baader-Meinhoff Complex
Director: Uli Edel
With: Moritz Bleibtrau, Martina Gedeck, et al.

Baader-Meinhoff were a loosely-organized band of violent radicals in Germany for almost 20 years.  Their roots were in the repressive reactions to peaceful demonstrations in Germany in the 60s.  We are shown how the young people came to despise the German government and its supporters in the business community.
Baader was always something of a malcontent, Meinhoff was a journalist who abandoned her family to fight for the cause.
They perpetrated bombings, kidnapings and murders.  As the years went by, and the original leaders were jailed and/or died, new members lacked the original connection to causes, and got crazier and crazier.  Eventually, one set of criminals was morally indistinguishable from another.
No attempt is made to tell you what to think, and we are able to empathize with the anger, if not the methods of the Complex.  A very fine political film, nearly as good as Costa-Gavras’ or Pontecorvo’s work.
B+
Opening today, 9/18, at Cinema 21