One of my favorite screenplays of all time is Daniel Waters’ Heathers, mainly because of its clever, yet not necessarily realistic dialogue. However, I’m not that into the work of Diablo Cody, whose writing style is often compared to and admittedly influenced by that earlier black comedy. Waters’ line “Did you have a brain tumor for breakfast?” could easily fit in a Cody-penned film, as could “No one at Westerberg is going to let you play their reindeer games.” But most of the memorable, quotable Heathers lines are smarter. Aren’t they?

I often wonder if I would have had any appreciation for Heathers had I seen it as my older, more cynical self. Would I have dismissed the script the same way I now do the scripts for Juno and Jennifer’s Body? Or, is Codyspeak a lot more forced and cheesy than Waters’ writing? And is Waters more respectable for not following Heathers with continued attempts at similarly clever dialogue? Imagine Waters’ script for Batman Returns with lines like “I’ve gotta motor, Alfred, if I want to catch the Penguin” and “What’s your damage, Catwoman?”

Okay, so Waters’ later scripts weren’t very good anyway, and it’d probably be pretty interesting to see a Cody-penned superhero movie (just as I was curious about Kevin Smith’s Superman script). But reviews for Cody’s latest are nowhere near as good as Juno’s were (and she’s certainly not going to win another Oscar for it), and part of the reason may be that people are no longer giving her goofy Codyspeak (or “diablologue”) a pass. In reviews, interviews and other posts, film bloggers are criticizing Cody’s words more than ever.

Check out some of these criticisms after the jump:

• Amos Barshad at Vulture takes a look at critical opinion of Codyspeak over the past few years in a timeline of quotes:
  

  Two years ago, Diablo Cody’s script for Juno warmed America’s hearts, nabbing a Best Original Screenplay Oscar along the way. All along she’s had her detractors, though, including our own David Edelstein. (On Juno: “I loathed it.”) With Jennifer’s Body, out today, it looks like the rest of the film-critic community has caught up.

• Sean at Film Junk acknowledges that some of the Codyspeak works, but the majority does not:
  

  As seems to be the case with all of Diablo Cody’s work, our attention must eventually be drawn back to the writing — particularly the dialogue. If Cody’s inventive slang drove you nuts in Juno, it will continue to annoy you in Jennifer’s Body as well. This time around, instead of “homeskillet” and “honest to blog”, we get “you give me such a wettie” and “Where’s it at, Monistat?”. For every one-liner that is actually funny, there are two or three that are just trying too hard.

• Vic Holtreman at ScreenRant compares the Codyspeak of Jennifer’s Body to that of Juno:
  

  Jennifer’s Body was written by Diablo Cody, the woman who wrote the critically acclaimed Juno - so despite the fact that this film was starring Megan Fox, people were hoping for something worthwhile. However where the dialog in Juno flowed easily and naturally, and the wit came easy, here it all seems forced and you get the sense that they’re just trying too hard to be hip - and failing.

• Kevin Carr at Film School Rejects notes, in his Weekly Report Card, why the dialogue doesn’t work as well in this new film:
  

  Diablo Cody gave us a fantastic script for Juno, but she’s not a very versatile writer. Cody’s script force feeds us the ersatz teen-speak that was endearing in her Oscar winner. However, here, it’s just one failed feminine hygiene joke after another. This film lacks the warmth and heart of Juno, making it as soul-less as the character of Jennifer.

• Lindsay at Jezebel argues that it’s actually better here than in Juno, in her list of six reasons to love Jennifer’s Body:
  

  5. The Diablo Cody-isms Aren’t As Distracting As They Were In Juno

  Jennifer’s Body probably could have done without “Moveon, Dot Org!”, but generally, the weird Diablo Cody alien teenspeak is limited to one character — Jennifer — which makes it seem like it’s her tic, not the entire movie’s. And when I’m watching a horror movie, I like knowing there’s always another pop culture allusion just around the corner. This movie isn’t trying to be Citizen Kane. I might even start calling my best friends Monistat and Vagisil…well…or not. But teenagers do tend to have their own language, and if it was okay in Heathers, it’s okay here.

• Jen Yamato at Cinematical deciphers some of the new film’s Codyspeak before it hits Urban Dictionary. Here’s part of the intro and an appropriate sample from her glossary:
  

  Like it or not, the Diablo Codyspeak continues in this week’s horror-comedy Jennifer’s Body, in which Megan Fox transforms from cheerleader to literal man-eater much to the chagrin of her mousy BFF. (That’s pronounced “biff” in the film, by the way.) As it turns out, all the high schoolers in Cody’s universe have the same razor-sharp ear for snarky lingo and referential zingers, so here’s a selection of Jennifer Body’s hipsterisms with the most repeat value for your pop culture edification.

  Jell-o: Adjective. Meaning envious or resentful of a rival, especially in the case of high school losers who can’t deal with how awesome I am. I mean, how awesome Megan Fox is. I mean, how awesome Diablo Cody is.

• Jenni Miller at MTV Movies Blog shares some defensive words from Jennifer’s Body director Karyn Kusama, in which the filmmaker compares Cody to other writers:
  

  Her script for “Jennifer’s Body” is no different, of course. “Do you have a tampon?” asks Jennifer (Megan Fox) at one point. “You look like you might be plugging.” Of course, it wasn’t so long ago that people were telling each other, “Great pate, mom, but I gotta motor if I wanna be ready for that party tonight,” as in “Heathers,” or “Rise up in the cafeteria and stab them with your plastic forks!” from “Pump Up the Volume,” or “I’m Audi” from “Clueless.”

  So, what’s with all the Diablo hate? Don’t a lot of authors create their own vibe? “Jennifer’s Body” director Karyn Kusama said, with her refreshing bluntness, “I’m fascinated by the criticism that Diablo receives for creating a language, as if that, as a writer, is some unspeakable horror. It’s as if people haven’t read ‘Trainspotting’ or watched ‘A Clockwork Orange’ or listened to a Quentin Tarantino movie or a David Mamet movie or listened to Tennessee Williams or listened to f–king Shakespeare, as far as I’m concerned.”

• Drew McWeeny at HitFix gets a similar response in his interview with Adam Brody and Amanda Seyfried. Here’s Brody’s defense:
  

  There is a sense that some people just don’t like what she does. And I keep hearing that it’s because they don’t think it sounds real.

  My interpretation is I don’t think she’s trying to capture teenage speak. I think that’s her voice. Just like Quentin Tarantino has everyone talking, just how David Mamet has everyone talking a certain way.

• Matt Goldberg at Collider blames Kusama for why the Codyspeak doesn’t work as well this time:
  

  Instead of letting Cody give a spin to the horror genre, Kusama wants to keep it nice and tidy which makes the movie predictable and therefore not horrifying.  It also makes Cody’s dialogue stand out like a gal who dressed up for a costume party and walked into a funeral (although that would be kind of funny and original and Kusama doesn’t want her horror and comedy to overlap).  Cody’s words never lose their confidence but they’re out of place to the point where they’re almost gratingly non-conformist.

• Aaron Hillis at IFC.com presses Cody directly about her dialogue during an interview:
  

  Juno’s friend said “Honest to blog,” and Jennifer says, “Hello Titty.” These characters exist in different film universes, and yet they both speak in the same pop-cultural voice that you do. Could that be seen as a limitation of your screenwriting?

  Big time. Absolutely.

  And you don’t worry that some of your references will be outdated in the long view?

  No. I like when I watch an old movie and they make a reference to something random. Like, when you’re watching “Sixteen Candles,” and they talk about her dream gift is a pink Trans-Am. It puts the movie in a specific place, and it’s kind of beautiful.

  Would you ever write something that didn’t have these allusions?

  Yeah, I already have. I wrote a script recently that’s interesting because the characters are pretty quiet. [laughs] They don’t do a lot of talking in general, and they certainly don’t employ the stereotypical Diablo Cody patois. I have no idea if it’s good, but it was fun to write.