Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
2.5/4
Teen drama from 2000s that feels oddly timely
Indyfreak - wrote on 11/21/2022
Mystery thriller about college students starting fake rumors for a project and things going awry. The movie plays out in a typical early 2000s fashion. But the setup does raise interesting ideas even if it is a bit on-the-nose about it.
James Marsden is in full-fledged douchebag mode but he's good at it. Lena Headey is a bit bland as the vanilla 'good girl' protagonist. Norman Reedus is oddly meek as the designated wimp of the main trio. Eric Bogosian is having fun as a combatic college professor. The central themes about false accusations feels incredibly relevant for the present day focus on fake news and the allure of social media.
As a whole the movie is adequately entertaining but it feels like scenes were cut. It's only ninety minutes. Apparently it cost $24M which still seems …
Rating of
1/4
50%
CJP - wrote on 01/25/2009
Action: 2/3 + Comedy: 1/2 + Good vs Evil: 0.5/1 + Love/Sex: 0.5/1 + Special Effects: 0/1 + Plot: 0/1 + Music: 1/1 = 5/10 or 50%.
Gossip begins like a guilty pleasure with beautiful looking people drinking a lot at art parties and waxing philosophical about rumors, news, media, and gossip. Then, in a communications class three outsider students decide to start a rumor and track it's effects as a project for their class final. It's not too long before the rumor spins out of control sending the victims of the gossip into the center of a homicide and rape investigation.
Sounds juicy, huh? Too bad Guggenheim decides to make the whole thing a "twist" ala M. and wastes a decent build up. The outcome is a way over the top, implausible, annoying soap box speech on why people shouldn't …
