Twenty-two years ago, director Chris Columbus made his debut with Adventures in Babysitting, a funny, zestful high school comedy that benefited from the extremely hot Elisabeth Shue and the underrated comedic timing of Keith Coogan. (Keith Coogan ruled! Where is that guy?) With this movie, Columbus tries to revisit his debut film glory days … and fails miserably. Seriously, Columbus is like a dweeb uncle crashing his nephew’s high school party, cracking shitty jokes he thinks are funny while the room stares at him all glassy-eyed and quiet. With this plodding effort, he proves himself woefully out of touch. The film starts promisingly, with valedictorian Denis Cooverman (Paul Rust) bringing his graduation ceremony to a halt via a barn-burning speech in which he declares his love for the class hottie (Hayden Panettiere). The entertainment level plunges downward soon thereafter.
I Love You, Beth Cooper
