Not only does that anger her boyfriend (who just so happens to be Kevin), but it takes her by surprise, just like her best friends, Cammy (LAUREN LONDON) and Treece (LAUREN STORM). Yet, despite the accompanying embarrassment, Beth thinks it's somewhat charming, and thus she and her friends agree to stop by Denis' party that he and Rich are throwing while Denis' parents (ALAN RUCK & CYNTHIA STEVENSON) go out for the evening.

But when Kevin shows up with his goons wanting retribution, Denis, Beth and their friends go on the run. As they end up going from one escapade to the next, the nerdy and socially awkward brain tries to get to know the more confident but wild cheerleader who believes her best days might be behind her.

For better or worse, no such ability exists regarding one's favorite movie characters. Sure, there are the occasional end credit text inserts that quickly summarize their pending future, while some manage to continue on in sequels, TV spin-offs or fan-based fiction. Most, however, remain stuck in the viewer's psyche exactly as they were when first seen, much like one's memories of those back in high school who will forever remain at the age of 18 with so many possibilities still in front of them.

Sometimes, though, and as movie fate will have it, a character -- or at least the performer who inhabited him or her -- will show up in a later flick in another persona that's close enough to the first that one can imagine that's the original character now grown up. That's what occurs in "I Love You, Beth Cooper" where the dad character is played by Alan Ruck.

If that name doesn't strike a bell, how about Cameron Frye? If you're still drawing a blank, try Ferris Bueller, Cameron's best friend in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" where Ruck played the nerdy and cautious teen who ends up in a day's worth of wild adventures with the title character and his girlfriend. The point of the film was to live life, and at the end, Ruck's teen has a new lease on his and is going to stand up to his dad for the first time.

Now, 23 years later, Ruck plays a hands off sort of father who tells his nerdy and cautious son (Paul Rust) to live it up and have fun, what with having just graduated from high school. And that's not the only advice he's received, as his best friend (Jack T. Carpenter) has urged the teen to tell the girl of his dreams (Hayden Panettiere) how he really feels about her.

He does just that and includes others in his get it off the chest commencement speech, thus setting into motion a wild day and night of running around with his friend, the head cheerleader, and her two best friends. The result is a film -- directed by Chris Columbus who works from Larry Doyle's screenplay adaptation of his own novel -- that hopes to be this generation's "Ferris Bueller" in terms of fun & funny escapades mixed with some profound and insightful material regarding how teens view their past, present and future.

While I haven't read Doyle's literary work, I've heard good things about it. Unfortunately, whatever worked there simply hasn't translated that well to the big screen. In an era when the likes of "Superbad" have redefined the coming of age teen comedy, this offering feels like a step or two down, both in terms of creating engaging characters and equipping them with witty dialogue & creative plot developments and, just as importantly, genuine laughs.

To be fair, it's not as bad as I feared considering it was originally slated to be a cold opening (with no advance screenings for critics -- which is nearly always a certain kiss of death regarding anything worthwhile). Yet, despite (or perhaps in part due to) a number of comedic flashbacks, introspective moments and whacky shenanigans, it's clearly nothing good, let alone great, and suffers from a disjointed and episodic feel.

One could say the latter about "Bueller," but at least it had a certain flair and charm going for it, plus game performances by its three leads. Here, the top trio looks right for their parts (even if Rust is 10 years older than his character), but there's just not enough there for any of them to make us care, and any combination of the chemistry among them just isn't strong enough to carry them through the film's lackluster story and its various recycled elements.

A subplot featuring Shawn Roberts as the military psycho meets jealous boyfriend character does nothing for the film save for occasionally rev up the action & adventure and allow our protagonist to take quite a beating, both from the bully as well as his attempts to avoid him and his goons. There's also a running gag about Rich's sexual orientation that quickly grows tiresome (as does his obsession with pointing out movie trivia, always reminding us of those better films), although that provides for enough additional risqué material to make the Matthew Broderick flick look quite wholesome in comparison.

In the end, the protagonist and the object of his affection agree to meet at their 10th high school reunion. By the time that occurs and based on what happens here, no one's going to care about their "whatever happened to" histories. Not horrendous but clearly a pale, weak and unnecessary imitator of what "Ferris Bueller" did so many years ago, "I Love You, Beth Cooper" rates as a 3 out of 10.