"JOHN TUCKER MUST DIE"
DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
| MOVIE: **1/2 (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: ***1/2 (out of 5 stars) STARRING Jesse Metcalfe as JOHN TUCKER Brittany Snow as KATE Ashanti as HEATHER Sophia Bush as BETH Arielle Kebbel as CARRIE Penn Badgley as SCOTT Jenny MacCarthy as LORI Rated PG-13 Studio: 20th Century Fox Directed by: Betty Thomas Back to DVD Review Home |  |
It’s funny how much things can change in Hollywood over the course of just a couple months. Back in the summer when “John Tucker Must Die” came out in the theaters, the biggest star of the movie was Jesse Metcalfe. Since his debut on television as the jailbait gardener in “Desperate Housewives,” he’s been the focus of many women, young and old.
However, once he was bounced from the show because showrunner Marc Cherry was done with his character and dried up his storyline (with only a brief return in the third season), he’s quickly fading into obscurity. That’s Hollywood for you.
Now, the start that catches my eye the most in this film is the pretty, young Sophia Bush, who is starting to make a name for herself outside of her CW show “One Tree Hill.” Her remake of “The Hitcher” didn’t score any records in early 2007, but it brought her closer to a feature film career. Other hotties in the film include Ashanti, who hasn’t done anything outside of her music career since “The Muppet Wizard of Oz,” and Arielle Kebbel, whose homely turn in “The Grudge 2” bombed this fall with fans and critics.
The only other young, hot star in this film who is going to transcend a splash in the pan is possibly Brittany Snow as the shy buy pretty Kate. Strangely enough, the careers of the girls in “John Tucker Must Die” are having a greater triumph over Jesse Metcalfe than their on-screen counterparts had over the character of John Tucker.
The movie follows a group of high school girls from different cliques who suddenly realize they are all dating the same guy – the school stud John Tucker (Metcalfe). At first, they’re angry at each other, but Kate the new girl (Brittany Snow) convinces them to team up to destroy the player. The plan is to get Tucker to fall for Kate and then have her crush his dreams.
In a series of schemes, the girls try to humiliate Tucker, from making him wear women’s thongs in public to becoming a spokesperson for herpes. However, Tucker is able to spin all of these situations to his benefit. As the girls get more vicious, Kate actually begins to have feelings for Tucker, and she has second thoughts about destroying him.
Boiled down to its most basic elements, “John Tucker Must Die” is a perfectly devised piece of Hollywood formula. It’s worldwide gross of $62 million bodes well against its paltry $18 million budget. It wasn’t a huge moneymaker, but it made money, and that’s what counts in this industry.
There is something for everyone in this film. The girls are going to enjoy watching Jesse Metcalfe on the screen, since they’ve been deprived of a weekly visit to their homes when he was ejected from “Desperate Housewives.” And the guys are going to like the rest of the cast. Having four pretty girls rounding out the main bill, often bouncing around in cheerleader outfits, it’s worth watching with a date.
The DVD comes with an extended edition, and when I say extend I mean by only 15 seconds. To be honest, I didn’t see a difference between the cuts of the film. There’s an audio commentary by director Betty Thomas and editor Matthew Friedman as well as two deleted scenes with commentary by Thomas. Other special features include behind-the-scenes featurettes ranging from a set tour with Jesse Metcalfe to interviews with the cast on what their high school experiences were like.
Much of the movie is spoiled in the trailers because the funniest parts were harvested for them. This made it somewhat disappointing in the theatres but manageable on DVD. With the high school demographic exploited to its full extent in this movie, it knows where it stands.
Specifications: Dolby Digital 5.1 Sound. Widescreen (1.85:1) – enhanced for 16x9 televisions. French and Spanish language tracks. Spanish subtitles. English subtitles for the hearing impaired.
