Director Chris Columbus has had a varied career. He made the first two Harry Potter films, the big screen version of the musical "Rent" and a couple of "Home Alone" movies. With his latest film, "I Love You, Beth Cooper," Columbus returns to his comedy roots.

Denis might be the smartest kid academically in his high school, but at heart, he's an awkward, nerdy guy who's never really taken any risks socially. During his valedictorian speech, he boldly tells his entire graduating class that he is in love with Beth Cooper, the prettiest and most popular girl in school.

Beth, played by Hayden Panettiere, would never pay any kind of attention to someone as geeky as Denis. But his dramatic speech actually makes Beth give him a second look.

So Beth and her two girlfriends give Denis and his best friend Rich a wild night they'll never forget.

Also in the mix is Beth's psycho boyfriend, Kevin, who wants to beat Denis up for embarrassing both him and his gal at the graduation ceremonies. The running gag of muscle-bound Kevin trying to kill scrawny Denis is both moronic and over-the-top. It wears thin after about five minutes, yet it keeps cropping up continually and annoyingly throughout the entire film.

Meanwhile, Beth keeps exhibiting wild girl behavior, in many other unrealistic scenes, which shatters Denis's fantasy.

Columbus has made a boring, by-the-numbers film, filled with dozens of idiotic sequences that seem to be pulled from countless other teenage flicks. None of it is funny, none of it is endearing and most of it is unenjoyable and quite tedious to watch.

As Denis, Paul Rust is unappealing and brings nothing to the table, while Panettiere, who I like on the TV show "Heroes," is dull in this movie. The real fault lies with director Columbus and Larry Doyle, who wrote a trite and awful screenplay.

"I Love You, Beth Cooper" opens in theaters this week.

Neil Rosen's Big Apple Rating: 1 Apple