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The Curve

The Curve

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Great cast, poor directing -- THUMBS WAY DOWN.
Review: Kill your dorm mate, get an "A". Intriguing idea, maybe the that's what the kids at Columbine had in mind. It's this simplistic, mean-spirited, and irresponsible film-making. Not one single character had a redeeming quality to them. Just left me feeling empty.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Well Worth a Look
Review: My college age son and I were enthralled by this film which features three roommates whose zealous attempts to get into Harvard Business school lead to an elaborate plot involving their present university's policy of handing out 4.0 grade point averages if a roommate commits suicide. The plot which begins with a manipulated suicide twists and turns with Hitchcockian flashbacks told in different points of view until the viewer is not quite sure what has happened until the ending---some rewinding may be necessary here to catch some of the nuanced and crucial dialogue. None of the characters in this film are likeable accept perhaps for Chris (Vartan). As he takes his grades so seriously that the stress renders him impotent, the audience at least sympathizes with him on some level albeit not a moral one. The other male characters, Tim and Rand, are so disgustingly unethical and devoid of any inner spiritualism one has to wonder how the actors maintained that empty black hole look that mirrored so effectively the conditions of their characters' souls. Keri Russell of 'Felicity' fame manages to shrug off her good girl persona with an equally ambitious attempt at a portrayal of an essentially soul-less character, although she doesn't quite succeed in being as believable as the two lead males. The most fascinating aspect of the film was the idea that such abject lying and cheating could be employed to move obstacles obstructing the heart's present desire without the physical blinking of an eye or any other sign of psychological reomorse. Makes you wonder what kind of people the writers of this film hang out with and if these are the types that actually go to the nation's top schools. Very scary.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Decent film
Review: Put all of the "this plot has been done before" thoughts aside, and this is a pretty decent movie. Actually, I thought it was more surprising and more believable that some of the other teen/colleage age horror/murder films. It had me wondering right up until the end if my assumption of what was really going on was right. I think it is definitely worth checking out.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Beautifull film.
Review: see this film at first looks, b'ish, low budget, independant film, but that seems to be what I prefer anyways, none the less, this film is great, ulrich, is one of the masters of horror, besides, he's an intense, crazy, actor,and he's beautifully talented,anyways, the film has many plot turns,and tons of deceit,and some kinky situations, but that isn't the best thing. the cigar shop scenerio, where he tells him about the world, is the best scene i've seen in film for many years, get this, or miss out.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: definitely ridiculous
Review: The campus they show at the beginning of the movie is of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Go there. It rocks. Unlike this movie. Which sucks. That's really all you can say about it. Simply terrible. Too bad that they showed Hopkins. At least they did't mention the school in the credits at the end. I hope they paid them to shoot a movie that bad there.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Woefully underrated gem.
Review: The Curve (Dan Rosen, 1998)

It is the painful reality of the American moviegoer that in any year more than one film is released on the same subject, the better film will never fail to either be completely eclipsed, publicity-wise, by the worse film (the good, but nothing great, The Lost Boys overshadowing one of the best modern American films, Near Dark), or the better film will simply not be widely released. Such was the case in 1998 with the horrifically bad Dead Man on Campus and its clever companion The Curve. The latter debuted at the Sundance Film Festival eight months before the release of the former, then disappeared until a video release almost eighteen months later. More's the pity for those who subjected themselves to the MTV-Films-produced monstrosity that was Dead Man on Campus.

Both films center around the same idea-the urban legend that if a collegiate's roommate commits suicide, that collegiate will be granted a 4.0 grade point average for the semester. (Both were, in fact, inspired by the same event-a monologue on a standup comedy show on MTV, which is presented in voiceover at the beginning of The Curve.) Dead Man on Campus played the idea for laughs. The Curve, on the other hand, took the idea and turned it into one of the most intriguing pieces to come out of the new film noir movement.

The film centers around five college seniors. Rand (Randall Batinkoff, of Christy fame), Tim (Matthew "Shaggy" Lillard), and Chris (Michael Vartan, most recently seen in One Hour Photo) are roommates; Rand and Chris are also dating roommates Natalie (Tamara Craig Thomas of Odyssey 5) and Emma (Keri Russell, back when she still had great hair). Chris and Tim's grades have both dropped over the semester, and Tim suggests the inevitable: the two of them conspire to kill Rand, whom no one's fond of anyway, and make it look like a suicide. The plot twists, turns, and hairpins from there, becoming that rarest of film birds, an impossibly complex maze that remains easy to follow until the last few minutes (and a few moments of reflection after the movie is over will put everything into place that happens during the climax and denoument).

Many of the reviews I could drum up about the obscure little gem focused on the performance of Matthew Lillard as the borderline psychotic Tim, but to me it was Vartan who truly stood out in this high-powered cast (which also includes such B-level stalwarts as Dana Delany and Henry Strozier). Rare is the role that requires an actor to play the kind of apathetic confusion one often finds in bad slasher films; here we get a chance to see that done right, it's actually workable. Chris, likeably confused throughout, is the perfect foil to Lillard's manic Tim, and the two create an atmosphere of friendship concealing a barely suppressed violence towards one another that gives the film an electricity it needed to stay on track throughout.

Obscure, but well worth tracking down for folks who like their mystery with more twists and turns than a Jane Russell Playtex ad. ****

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: THE CURVE is great!!!
Review: THE CURVE is a cross between a black comedy and a suspensful psychological thriller. Matthew Lillard is a college student who discovers that you get straight A's if your college room-mate kills themselve. There are many plot twists, so try to keep up with this one!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: TRUST NO ONE-
Review: The Curve was a very slick movie. I don't want to give away the plot but let me intrigue you by saying that people are not what they seem and just when you think you got it figured out, you're right at the beginning again. Very clever movie, well acted Loved it!!! Can't wait till my friend takes one of the shelf and PVT's it for me. Only if we all could be so lucky :)

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A bit overdone, but a good rental!
Review: The ending is sure a surprise, but a bit predictable.. Matthew Lillard is great in his role of another psychotic person (not hard for him to do) the only weekness is that it has a very lousy script... and the plot is stolen from "Dead Man on Campus" this is still a good thriller, though... just leave your brain at the door when you see this.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Its a twister, Its a twister
Review: The movie was excellent and I have told all my friends to watch it. The producer did a nice job with the feel and music for this film. I am not going to provide you with any more info - watch the film.


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