TruPretender

The film has no objective method of approach. It's neither horror, nor comedy. It's satire (bad satire, at that.) The film enjoys constant displays of ideas and images that correlate to the country (red, white and blue; burning flag) and religion (Town's name is "Devil's Kettle" religion is referenced many times.) matched with some of the admit-tingly hilarious dialogue of Diablo Cody, and of course, Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried (who bring us guys a VERY likable bedroom scene.), to bring you one of the weirdest experimental teen horror flicks that tries to make a statement at the same time. The narratives that form the message are in your face at some times, and subtle and barely registering, at others. The film tries to say one thing, but is so clearly the other. The film then so, became herky jerky and inefficient. I left the theater in a state of sugar daddy comatose wanting more from the two leads and less from the so called "statement (which I didn't get any more of anyway.)

What we have here, is a failure to communicate-a direct result of the writer, Diablo Cody, herself! This film is illogical and messy in it's attempt to display teen horror in a satirical manner. It doesn't move much past the opening, when the logic and reason are thrown out in a bizarre series of events that almost don't make sense. It then goes to play itself with a new breed of 'lingo' that writer Cody obviously thinks the new-age audiences will thrive off of. It's a high-school horror movie doing bad stand -up comedy, or rather, it's Darren Steins "Jawbreaker" with a satanic twist. The story introduces some harsh events that will only disable one's thinking ever more...

But when it all comes down, we have two genres slugging it out by the flagpole. It's easy to see, no one is going to get this movie. Those who will like it, will not so, for the reasons they should, and those who do NOT like it, will so because they don't get what Cody is trying to tell us. What's that? You got us. The film is a cross between political statement, and social anxiety of religion, particularly in a school setting. This could have been a keen idea for the new generation of 'R' rated horror films, but Cody tries to make the film too appealing, getting lost and indulged in the dialogue, the social dynamic, and Megan Fox. Therefore, the film has no direction. It's lost early on, and the film misses the mark. The film had a few merits, such as Amanda Seyfried who delivers the only genuine performance. Hers is a solid, character remaining a stable element that (barely) holds the film together in it's best moments. But when it all comes down, the film is hindered by the story, the plot (there is a difference between the two) and characters, all of which take a back seat to the muddled "message" of the film and the film suffers from inconsistency.