Remember what I said about the movie "Dare"? Well, I take it all back! After I watched it this past weekend, I couldn't stop thinking about it every day since then. Before, I totally didn't understand the point of the movie. I knew it was supposed to be about the coming-of-age of three teenagers, but it just came off as incomprehensible to me. But then, I read online reviews of it and I began to look at in a new light. Then today, I finally re-watched it and had a whole new appreciation for it. Only really good movies stick with you the way this one did. I guess I was being ignorant of the underlying story when I reviewed it before. I've come to understand that it really is a coming of age story, still centered around Johnny, but it's bigger than that. The acting really was phenomenal and they conveyed brilliantly the sense of despair in trying to figure out yourself and what you're going to do with the rest of your life and who you're going to be. Johnny's story was really about more than just a rich kid with emotionally detached parents. He suffers from panic attacks because he really has no one around that truly loves him, and that's all he's wanted for a really long time. He jumps at the chance that Alexa might actually start to love him, and when Ben takes a liking to him, he feels euphoric, and more happy and complete than he can ever remember feeling. No matter what happens throughout the movie, I've gathered that the entire plot line is centered around the adolescent quest to find someone in this world that will love us, and the willingness to be hurt in the process. Like I said before, the more I watch this movie and the more I think about it, the more I like it. I might actually be starting to love it. I think it's just because I finally think I understand it, but still. I don't mind it anymore. :) (It doesn't hurt that Zach Gilford gets cuter and cuter the more I watch this movie.) ;)
Yesterday, I was on Netflix (as per usual,) and I found a movie that looked kind of interesting. It was called "Dare." The movie is based around 3 teenagers, Alexa, Ben, and Johnny, who are seniors in high school. Alexa is a smart, well-mannered, well-behaved girl who, instead of wanting to be a doctor or lawyer as people expect, wants to be an actress. She is told that she is too sheltered and hasn't had any pain or heartbreak in her life to draw from that can make any of her performances believable. Ben is Alexa's best friend, and she is his only friend. He is shy and dorky, and becomes jealous when Alexa starts becoming popular, and spending more and more time with Johnny, (who is her costar in the school play). Johnny is the most popular guy in their school, but he is unstable, detached, and depressed. He has "sexual relations" with both Alexa and Ben (who turns out to be very gay,) and they all become a weird set of friends. Johnny hooks up with them to feel closer to people, because he realizes that he doesn't have any actual friends that know him, and his dad and step-mom couldn't care less about him, while Alexa and Ben are just thrilled to have someone want them in that way, especially someone as popular as Johnny. They care for Johnny, but not in the way he believes they do. The movie ends with Johnny disappearing for months after an incident at a party, and Alexa eventually sees him again outside of a restaurant.
Overall, this movie was kind of a flop for me. I've been thinking about it since I watched it, and I've figured out that it's supposed to be hugely metaphorical and deep, and I get it. But I just feel like it had no real plot line. The movie is centered around Johnny, but it's hard to gauge that from the way it's set up. The exposition sets you up to believe the movie will be about Alexa becoming a bad girl to get the guy and her best friend is jealous of the time he's missing out on with her, and in a way, it is about that. But it's more about what's wrong with Johnny and the void in his mind and heart. The actors were pretty good, but the entire movie felt awkward and the plot totally bombed. I'd give this movie a 2.5 out of 5, possibly a 3 if you're looking for a teen movie that makes you think (really, really hard.)
