PaulRust Tagged Articles at Cinematical

When I read I Love You, Beth Cooper -- and wrote about the book here a few months ago -- I knew that the on-the-way film adaptation would be thorny. Now that I've seen the film, I can say that it is not merely thorny; it is a textbook case of an adaptation gone wrong. Working from his own mostly delightful novel, Simpsons vet Larry Doyle is like a novice driver who, in trying to avoid potholes, veers to hit every one. And, in what he should consider a betrayal of epic proportions, Doyle gets absolutely no help from anyone involved with the film -- not from the cast, not from the editor, and certainly not from director Chris Columbus, who is utterly helpless when his material is not inherently strong.

I hasten to add that I Love You, Beth Cooper is not that bad -- I think it's a bit better than our Peter Martin lets on, and certainly better than our Eric D. Snider insists. But the movie -- still about a geeky, virginal high school senior who confesses his love for the class hottie in his graduation speech -- is sappy, muddled, and just mystifyingly unfunny. Consider that the novel is hip, razor-sharp, and hilarious, and you start to get a sense of what a rare specimen this adaptation is. So what happened?

How do you transform a very funny book into a dreadfully boring movie? I laughed more from reading the first five pages of Larry Doyle's novel than I did during the entirety of Chris Columbus' film version of I Love You, Beth Cooper, despite the fact that Doyle wrote the screenplay. Much of the dialogue is lifted directly from the book, but when spoken on screen, the lines fall painfully flat. That leaves the attempts at physical humor, which are constant, and will tickle to death only those who love to see pratfalls: "Look, Mommy, man fall down and cry out in agony! Ha, ha!"

Leaving aside the source material and the film's relative faithfulness to it, I Love You, Beth Cooper might have worked as either a joyful, gleefully mischievous, yet ultimately conservative rebel yell (a la Ferris Bueller's Day Off) or as a funny yet thought-provoking tale of teenagers finally growing up (a la Dazed and Confused). Like those two infinitely superior movies, I Love You, Beth Cooper takes place over the course of one eventful day in the life of its teen-aged subjects, but Columbus can't decide whether the movie should be an uncomfortable comedy of embarrassment and humiliation or a sweet, sentimental romance. The tone wavers uncertainly throughout -- often within individual scenes -- and the film's general inertia quickly becomes wearisome.

Hayden Panettiere makes for an unlikely Beth Cooper. She's meant to be a high school dream girl, a fantasy figure concocted by the awkward, hapless Denis Cooverman (Paul Rust) through all the years that he's sat behind her in class and stared at her picture on his bedroom ceiling.

Quick: what actress said she would only go naked for an Oscar-caliber role? If you answered Hayden Panettiere, you'd be right. (Of course, if you answered Megan Fox or a few dozen other actresses, you'd also be right.) Two years ago, the budding Heroes starlet claimed: "I'd never go nude or shave my head – unless it's for an Oscar!" Either things have changed, or I Love You, Beth Cooper is a sleeper contender for an Academy Award. Chris Columbus' film, based on the book by Larry Doyle, opens on Friday. Panettiere stars in the titular role as a freshly-graduated high school student who decides to show a nerdy valedictorian (Paul Rust) the night of his life. And her breasts.

Panettiere confidently drops her towel in front of Rust in the locker room scene. "It didn't bother me much," she told People. "I don't think it takes much thought, and I don't think it takes much preparation as an actor," she explained to Parade. "I didn't find it very hard being naked. It's like I drop my towel and that's it." How naked was she? "I was really naked," she elaborated to E! Online. "I had these little sticky petals on my boobs, but that was about it."

Sounds like a hot, naked scene -- except the movie is rated PG-13 ("for crude and sexual content, language, some teen drinking and drug references, and brief violence") and you may be able to see more of the 19-year-old Panettierre's body in a bikini (the trailer hints that her exposed flesh is limited to her bare back, above the waist). Kudos to Panettiere for getting as much publicity as possible for her movie while keeping her private parts private -- for now.

Cinematical has just received these exclusive images from a new version of the book I Love You, Beth Cooper that author Larry Doyle (The Simpsons) is putting out (in connection with the upcoming film) that contains a whole bunch more of the hilarious art featured in the first one. If you haven't yet read I Love You, Beth Cooper then I strongly suggest picking up a copy because it's easily one of the funniest books I've read in the past couple of years (but I'm also a sucker for those teen angst tales; The Catcher in the Rye is, like, my favorite book of all time).

I Love You, Beth Cooper follows the story of a pimple-faced high school valedictorian named Denis Cooverman who professes his love for the school's hottest student (Beth Cooper) while doling out his speech to the entire class on graduation day. From that point on, it turns into one of those crazy all-nighter stories that we don't see enough of these days. (Remember License to Drive? This book reminded me of that film, only Beth Cooper definitely stays awake the entire time and there's a lot more action and pop culture references.)

The film, which was directed by Chris Columbus and stars Hayden Panettiere and Paul Rust in the lead roles, hits theaters on July 10. If it's half as good as the book, it will be so worth your dollar -- the perfect fun summer film. Check out the two pieces of art down below (mildly NSFW for language), and the latest version of the paperback (which includes 32 new pages of content and 16 new pages of art) hits shelves on June 9. Additionally, feel free to scope out the latest trailer for I Love You, Beth Cooper after the jump.

I'd like to think that our own Eric D. Snider knows what's funny, if only twice a day, so when he recommended Larry Doyle's "I Love You, Beth Cooper" last summer, I swiftly added it to my List of Stuff to Read Eventually and have succeeded in putting it off ever since. (I did, however, get around to "Apathy and Other Small Victories," and was consequently amused. Maybe I'm only off on these things by a year or so.)

Anyway, it's been long enough that we're getting a movie of the same name, and Fox has posted the first trailer on its official website -- scary timing, given Eugene's From Page to Screen column last week, on which Doyle himself wrote: "The first trailer should be popping up on the net any day now." (Oh. Guess I should've read that part first.)

Anyway, it does seem to be the PG-13 all-in-one-night humiliation fest that all previous descriptions had suggested. Paul Rust does look like the ideal dweeby valedictorian, and Hayden Panettiere does look like exactly the kind of girl one might throw it all out there for. (Did I say that out loud?)

Like it or not, I Love You, Beth Cooper opens July 10th, and should not be confused with this year's I Love You, Man or I Love You, Phillip Morris.

So there are these two high school dudes, right, and though they're seniors, they're so aggressively geeky and socially inept that losing their virginity doesn't even seem like a real-world prospect. But before they leave for college, they have the opportunity to have one last craaaaazy night of adventure that could well culminate in getting laid – in addition to drunk, beaten up, and/or arrested.

Wait: have you heard this one before? You could be forgiven for thinking – or at least hoping – that Superbad was the last word on this subject. But like it or not, here comes I Love You Beth Cooper, adapted by Simpsons vet Larry Doyle from his own novel and directed by that stalwart of the bland and inoffensive, Chris Columbus.

The book reads, indeed, like Superbad by a Simpsons writer: hyperactive, incessantly self-referential, with occasional bursts of sincerity in an attempt to give the proceedings some emotional heft. It's often very funny, though usually due to an oddball choice of words by Doyle rather than anything situational. ("This is... odd," he she-grunted.") Where Superbad balanced out the raunch with a disarming sweetness, Beth Cooper goes for a sort of detached, intellectual cool, obviously sympathizing with its besotted protagonist (Doyle claims that "Denis Cooverman" is inspired by his own high school experience) but also taking not-inconsiderable joy in pounding him into the dirt. Mileage may vary; I can see how this approach would seem insufferable to some.

Bastards, bastards, bastards! The best part about Quentin Tarantino appropriating the title for his upcoming movie from Enzo Castellari's high-energy original is that I get to satisfy my inner 11-year-old and tell you all about the latest Inglorious Bastards withour fear of recrimination from parental figures. Diane Kruger is the highest-profile new bastard, according to Variety, joined by Christoph Waltz and writer / actor / comedian Paul Rust.

Kruger, the hellenic beauty who first made a splash on these shores opposite Orlando Bloom in Troy -- which also starred soon to be chief bastard Brad Pitt as a bit of a heel -- will play Bridget Von Hammersmark (not "Hammer Snark," smart guy), a German actress. Kruger is fine casting since, of course, she is a German actress, and already has experience playing WWII theatrics with the flick Joyeaux Noël (Merry Christmas), but I'm sorry that Nastassja Kinski will not be playing the role. She's the kind of 40-something actor that could use a juicy role to remind people of who she is.

Waltz is an unknown quantity to US eyes, though he's done plenty of TV work in Germany. He snared the role of Col Hans Landa, the main Nazi antagonist, the part that Leonard DiCaprio was "in talks" to discuss. If nothing else, Waltz shouldn't have a problem with the accent. Paul Rust has written for Adult Swim's Moral Orel and MTV's Human Giant and appeared in Semi-Pro. Let me go out on a limb and guess that he's been cast -- as the comic relief? I'm sure somebody out there in Commenter Land has read the script and can guess for the rest of us.

Maybe someone should tell newcomer Paul Rust that Hayden Panettiere is into older men -- the power-sucking sort that are 12 years her teen senior. But, well, geekboys can dream. However, in the upcoming comedy I Love You, Beth Cooper, the dude does a little more than just dreaming. Also, mimicking reality, Hayden plays a gal with an older guy.

Erik blogged about the movie last month when Chris Columbus was in talks to direct, and the whale saver was looking into starring. With their deals now set, Variety reports that they've cast Rust as the guy who gets to long for Beth Cooper. He'll play Denis Cooverman, the geeky valedictorian who decides that it will be a good idea to profess his love for Beth during his speech. Oh yes, there's nothing more romantic than the smart geek professing his love in front of the whole graduating senior class, their parents, the girl, and her parents. He might be book smart, but it seems like he's missing some rational smarts. Still, Erik said some great things about it, so maybe this could be fun.

That is, if they don't make HP be too love-gushy at any point. Man, I hated her romantic scenes with West in Heroes. Ick. Anyway, according to his blog, Rust heads for Vancouver next Monday to shoot the film through the end of May.