source: Dare

Besides being a coming of age film, to me this is the story of a mentally delicate individual in dire need of love and support and thinks he has found it in two people, who happen to be best friends of the opposite sex. The relationship between the three becomes more and more intimate and it has a negative effect on one of them who thinks of it in a much different and long term manner than the other two. It's not terribly well written and the best friends characters are the least well thought out. The highlight of the film is the performance of Zach Gilford. The other two can't overcome the writing flaws. For Gilford fans mostly. Has a little appeal, but weak stuff.

A semi sad semi funny story about a lonely confused adolescent boy who just wants someone to take care of him and love him and does not truly care who they are as long as he's noticed for who he really is. Plus another teenage boy and a girl who just want someone to love and call their own, someone who would make them feel right mostly because they feel so wrong about everything. Not another high school story but rather an earnest film about three young people who still don't know who they are but willing to do everything possible to find out the answer. A unique film for everyone who likes watching friendship movies, or relates with the unpopular ones or just isn't sure about themselves either and would like to spend 90 minutes give or take of their lives watching others trying to figure out some real truth about themselves. . Not an easily-forgotten film.

Signing up Zack Gilford ("Friday Night Lights") and Emmy Rossum {'Shameless") to play a teenage Stanley and Blanche must've seemed like a real casting coup, but I'm thinking this film would've been better off with two younger, less charismatic stars—their characters are supposed to be slowly groping their way (in more ways than one) towards an adult identity, and these two seem like they're already fully formed. Still, their performances are the best thing about "Dare," which in spite of a promising storyline, still ends up feeling kind of unfocused and generic. The unstable triad of high-school player Johnny (ZG), ambitious art girl Alexa (ER) and "drama-club tech nerd" Ben (Ashley Springer) shakes out pretty much the way you think it will, though the ending's a nice surprise, and the most convincing scenes are the ones where the three leads interact with other characters, not with each other—Johnny goes off on a boorish classmate and on his therapist; Ben tries hard to keep his mother (also a therapist) from "analyzing"; prim Alexa talks smack with her dissipated BF (Rooney Mara). Excellent supporting cast—Cady Huffman turns up briefly as Alexa's pediatrician, Alan Cumming's a troublemaking HS alumnus and Johnny's therapist is Sandra Bernhard, no less; nice soundtrack and Philly Main Line locations (Johnny's absentee father has the perfect McMansion with lawyer foyer). "Dare"'s certainly not all that it might have been, but it's still quite watchable; turns up on cable a lot these days.

The plot between Johnny and Alexa seemed quite average but when things became heated between Ben and Alexa he seemed to become quite childish in the fact of he wanted his best friend returned to him so he tried to take away her new toy type of deal. Although he was discovering himself I found it quite wrong in the way of getting Alexa back. Johnny's self discovery is understandable yet slightly twisted(not negatively plot wise) Alexa's feelings toward Johnny were easier to follow. And in the end Alexa seemed to truly be sorry to Johnny although the ending was more of a non-ending there wasn't much closure. I didn't like Ben's storyline because he seemed too manipulative and quite cold. I found the character of Courtney really interesting.

An almost insurmountable problem for me while viewing 'Dare' was, yet again, a filmmaker (and an Indie one to boot.) who cast actors too old to play high school teens. One would have gathered from the main and featured characters that they were in a movie about some college campus with a heavy population of post-graduate students. Hollywood has done this kind of casting since time immemorial. Don't the producers/directors realize that they're using a visual medium to tell the story? Not a radio show, not a play in a large theater but a movie, using close ups as well as medium and long shots. For a couple of the actors another dead give away is when they opened their mouths to speak. They sound like young adults, not 17 or 18 year old's. The movie, though revisiting an already well chewed story, is competently done, the performances are well directed and acted and director Adam Salky has done very well in this his first feature film. P.S.: I thought the major trauma that occurred to John near the end of his section could have been made clearer. Afterwards, I was never completely certain of what had happened to him prior to his deciding to become a serious student of acting at the very end of the movie.

I wouldn't call this a typical teen angst movie. It has some interesting twists and a surprising bit of innocence that you wouldn't guess from the trailers and descriptions. Zach Gilford, Ashley Springer and Ana Gasteyer were the highlights of the film for me. (I'm not normally a fan of Ana's work, but I liked her in this.) Warning, the rest is a potential Spoiler... Alan Cumming's role is quite short, but his his character's words perhaps explain more about the actual story than anyone else's. If you watch the movie and find yourself scratching your head when the end credits roll, go back and watch his scenes. How is a great actor created? Do life lessons that just happen to you naturally because of who you are have a bigger impact on your life than ones you unnaturally try to force to occur? I think those questions play a big part in how the characters end up. Overall I think it's a good movie, a bit more complicated than some, no easy answers or simple conclusion. If you're the kind of person who tries hard to present yourself as something that you're not, you may appreciate this movie more than others.

This film was only good because the acting was solid throughout the whole film, although the character Ben played by Ashley Springer was a little possessive and creepy at times, he still seemed to be true. Zac Gilford shined as Johnny Drake a loner, showing he has range other than wholesome Matt from Friday Night Lights. And Emmy Rossum was excellent as Alexa, the sweet and pure Sandra Dee of the coming-of-age film. So why only a 3/10? The three was for the actors and the -7 was for the writer of this mess. The story did not blend well, it was too jumpy and incoherent. i am not a huge fan of voice-overs, but this needed it to fill all the gaps in the story. It seems that the writer had watched Dawson's Creek and Cruel Intentions and through in a little sexual confusion into the pot, stirred it and came up with this half told tale. The conclusion is there is no real conclusion, just more ambiguity to confuse the confused.

A pop-art animation shows a pair of hands, wrapped around an iPhone. On the screen, the thumbs tap out the opening credits. Occasionally, the hands reject incoming calls from Mom. They also accidentally type out things like "props!" and "OMG". It is a rather embarrassing attempt to seem down with the kids (or is that kidz?) but thankfully, it is also misleading. The film itself has an entirely different tone. 'Dare' is not another typical teen-rom-rom about puberty and trying to get laid. Alexa (Emmy Rossum) is an innocent, hard-working drama student. After failing to impress a big theatre star (Alan Cumming), she is advised to experience new things in order to improve her acting. She decides to seduce her drama partner, Johnny (Zach Gilford), who acts tough to hide his sensitivity. Ben (Ashley Springer), Alexa's gay best friend, is jealous of their relationship and decides to have a go at Johnny too. Their relationships soon become an uncomfortable and confusing love-triangle. The film is divided into three parts, each one following a different main character. The more focused characterisation allows for a more effective display of all the awkwardness and insecurity associated with adolescence. Each of the main characters is given their own screen-time to grow and develop, and as a result there is much more substance. 'Dare' is at its strongest when the audience gets to see the characters go about their own lives, without the hassle of narrative development. On their own, the three individual segments of the film could have easily been short, John Hughes-esque films about different teenagers and their approaches to the issues of growing up. The character of Alexa goes from innocent, uptight bookworm to sexy party girl too quickly, but Rossum plays both 'versions' just fine. Springer does a good job portraying Ben's struggle to deal with his homosexuality, and it is touching to see him find confidence in himself. Gilford gives the most convincing and layered performance of all as Johnny. He channels Marlon Brando and James Dean in his sensitive tough-guy act and it is effective, especially when it becomes apparent that he has severe rejection issues. The problem with this kind of narrative structure is that there's too much characterisation for the love-triangle storyline. There is too much attention on each individual personality and not enough on mixing those personalities together. The characters end up changing too quickly, and it is clear that this is merely for the sake of pushing the love story along. The film's attempt to be a coming-of-age drama and a love story at the same time backfires. It is too much of a character piece for the love-triangle story not to seem forced. By the time the abrupt ending comes around, one can't help but feel cheated, or disappointed by the wasted potential. As a character study 'Dare' certainly excels, but as a narrative it is never compelling enough to be remembered. This film is likely to resonate with anybody who has ever been a teenager, but just because it resonates does not guarantee that it will be memorable. For his first feature-length effort, Adam Salky has done a decent job. It will be interesting to see what he comes up with in the future.

I would recommend this film for anyone who finds themselves interested in sexuality in general or especially teen sexual awakenings. The plot itself is not extremely gripping but the actors bring a certain raw, candid look at "graduating" adolescence and embarking upon the lifelong trip of finding one's identity. Those who wish a typical Hollywood or status quo film experience should stay away from this one as it's quite creative and caters to those seeking intellectual or romantic pondering. So while this film is indeed interesting the average movie-watcher may find it lacking for entertainment value.