Hayden Panettiere, center, plays Beth Cooper in the high-school comedy "I Love You, Beth Cooper."

LOS ANGELES — Somewhere inside "I Love You, Beth Cooper," there lies a high-school comedy in the same vein as the great John Hughes movies of the 1980s.

All the pieces are in place: the nerdy guy, the popular girl, the quirky friends, the all-night adventures and the obligatory house-trashing bash. But the pacing feels stagnant and the antics simply aren't inventive enough.

There seemed to be potential from the start, too, in the script from Larry Doyle, based on his novel. Instead of spouting generic platitudes about chasing your dreams, geeky valedictorian Denis Cooverman (Paul Rust) uses his graduation speech as an opportunity to tell head cheerleader Beth Cooper (Hayden Panettiere) that he's secretly been in love with her since the seventh grade. He also gets some sly revenge on the kids who've tormented him his whole life by calling them out for their cruelties and insecurities.

The fact that this actually happens — that it's not just a dream sequence — signals the possibility for bold and surreal humor. And Rust has an endearing underdog goofiness about him without being too hyper or ingratiating. But the rest of the movie plays out rather flatly and predictably, as Beth finds herself intrigued by Denis and they bond over one wild night with their respective friends in tow.

Beth Cooper, on paper, is meant to be revealed as far less perfect than Denis had always imagined her. Beautiful and perky as she is, she probably peaked in high school, and there isn't a lot for her to look forward to — community college, maybe, if she can afford it. She was probably written as a real person: Everyone went to high school with girls like this.

Panettiere is insanely cute as always and the camera does adore her, but she hasn't developed the dramatic chops yet to make Beth's human frailty believable. And so Beth Cooper remains an elusive idea, even to us, rather than the kind of anchor this movie could have used when it shifts from adolescent wackiness to sweet poignance.

TITLE: “I Love You, Beth Cooper”CAST: Hayden Panettiere, Paul RustDIRECTOR: Chris ColumbusRATED: PG-13 for crude and sexual content, language, some teen drinking and drug references, and brief violenceGRADE: * * (out of 4)