Nerve - directed by Henry Joost & Ariel Schulman
You have to give the producers of this film credit for one thing at least....
The poster for "Nerve" is one of only a very few recent pieces of movie art not to employ the orange / blue contrast colour scheme.
(if you don't know what I refer to read this rather excellent article HERE)
Even my beloved "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens" succumbed to the trend.
But not so "Nerve".... it colours its poster and all of the marketing material that I have seen in pinks and greens and blues.
It is a style that comes from the movie itself.
"Nerve" is based on the book of the same name by Jeanne Ryan.
It is a high concept tale about an introverted young woman who tries an online but real world game that challenges its players to accept a series of ever more difficult and dangerous dares for money.
Those not participating follow the action from their smart phones, tablets and computers and can comment and urge the participants on.
So it is Players and Watchers.
Popularity and money are the prizes.
Vee (Emma Roberts) is the shy woman who starts as a watcher but urged by her confident and sexually brash friend Sydney becomes a player.
The game will see the players ultimately narrowed down to two finalists as players 'fail' or 'bail'.
Vee (short for Venus!) becomes involved with another player named Ian (Franco) when the watchers decide that they are good together and force them along the same path.
Kissing a stranger for 5 seconds and singing in a crowded restaurant leads to more difficult but seemingly harmless dares like trying on expensive clothes then leaving the store to doing 60mph blindfolded on a motorcycle.
With hints at penalties for those who fail or worse- snitch- there is of course the sense that it is all leading somewhere far more sinister.
Hell, Roberts is dressed as a literal Little Red Riding Hood at one point.
This suspicion of a darker underbelly is often at odds with the tone of the film.
"Nerve" is a slickly made film.
Set in a New York city oozing with neon lights and the glow of cellphones and awash in a melodically trippy score and extensive list of techno tracks it is easy on the eye and soothing to the ear.
It serves to soften the mood somewhat.
I could easily imagine this being made as a grimier, grittier affair with an older cast by someone like David Fincher whose disappointing "The Game" from 1997 explored similar albeit less technology focused ground.
By having the fresh faced Emma Roberts and a non-R rating the message that nothing here is going to hurt too much is clear.
Having said that Roberts and Franco have good chemistry and as a movie aimed at a younger audience it has plenty to offer.
"Nerve" does have something to say but I wonder if the message will get through to a generation married to their smartphones and born into a world where the internet has always existed.
Without spoiling the second half of the film there is a clear challenge to the viewer here and I found it quite effective.
In many ways it is a film of two halves - lighthearted fun for much of the running time but turning quite tense and noticeably darker in the later sections.
Some of the tension that directors Joost and Schulman brought to the wonderfully creepy "Paranormal Activity 3" is introduced on occasion but I do wish that they had pushed just a little harder.
There is very little violence or profanity however and this is smart choice.
Not only does it broaden the potential audience to include all that its message is presumably aimed at but there is nothing too showy and exploitative to distract from the overall theme.
(Well, apart from a couple of underwear eye candy scenes for both male and female viewer alike as Roberts and Franco strip to their skimpies)
It does carry on the current trend of employing the hacker as Deus Ex Machina however.
We have seen the recent "Jason Bourne" chuck a conveniently unrealistic computer system hack in when the plot got pushed into a tight corner and "Nerve" employs it heavily too.
Honestly though it is best not to think too hard about the plot holes and technical impossibilities and just go along with it.
"Nerve"is not aiming for hyper realism after all.
I do like what "Nerve" is trying to do and even if it is not as successful as it could have been had it adopted a darker tone its heart is in the right place.
Also the supporting cast of characters - the slutty best friend, the nerdy guy with a crush on Vee, the edgy 'villain' are all terribly cliched but Emily Meade and Miles Heizer turn in very good performances.
My early concerns that this movie was trying to have its cake and eat it too were never really eased and I wonder if many who leave screenings will be wishing that they could play a game like the one featured here.
Showing something as fun and compelling is all well and good but you have to be very careful in flipping to the other side of the coin lest it still seem like an awful lot of fun regardless.
The game at the centre of "Nerve" is not too hard to imagine becoming a reality and I'm sure has already to some degree at least.
It may seem like a bit of fun but the ease with which we can connect to others hides a stark danger with anonymity excusing all sorts of behaviour.
This is clearly the message here and the irony was not lost on me as I left the cinema alongside a couple of dozen other people all checking their smartphones.
We are still waiting for the first truly great film that explores our current obsession with technology and the internet and even if "Nerve" isn't it it at least deserves credit for venturing in the right direction.
RATING: 77 / 100
CONCLUSION: Slickly made with effective work from Roberts and Franco "Nerve" is more effective as entertainment than the social commentary it is striving to be but nonethless I liked it.
Starring: Dave Franco, Emma Roberts, Emily Meade, Miles Heizer, Kimiko Glenn, Marc John Jefferies, Machine Gun Kelly, Brian 'Sene' Marc, Ed Squires, Rightor Doyle, Josh Ostrovsky, Eric D'Alessandro, Samira Wiley, Juliette Lewis
Screenplay: Jessica Sharzer
Music Score by: Rob Simonsen
Cinematography: Michael Simmonds
Cinematography: Michael Simmonds
Edited by: Madeleine Gavin & Jeff McEvoy
Running Time: 96 minutes
Language: English
Rated: M - Adult Themes and brief buttock nudity
Running Time: 96 minutes
Language: English
Rated: M - Adult Themes and brief buttock nudity
You have to give the producers of this film credit for one thing at least....
The poster for "Nerve" is one of only a very few recent pieces of movie art not to employ the orange / blue contrast colour scheme.
(if you don't know what I refer to read this rather excellent article HERE)
Even my beloved "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens" succumbed to the trend.
But not so "Nerve".... it colours its poster and all of the marketing material that I have seen in pinks and greens and blues.
It is a style that comes from the movie itself.
"Nerve" is based on the book of the same name by Jeanne Ryan.
It is a high concept tale about an introverted young woman who tries an online but real world game that challenges its players to accept a series of ever more difficult and dangerous dares for money.
Those not participating follow the action from their smart phones, tablets and computers and can comment and urge the participants on.
So it is Players and Watchers.
Popularity and money are the prizes.
Vee (Emma Roberts) is the shy woman who starts as a watcher but urged by her confident and sexually brash friend Sydney becomes a player.
The game will see the players ultimately narrowed down to two finalists as players 'fail' or 'bail'.
Vee (short for Venus!) becomes involved with another player named Ian (Franco) when the watchers decide that they are good together and force them along the same path.
Kissing a stranger for 5 seconds and singing in a crowded restaurant leads to more difficult but seemingly harmless dares like trying on expensive clothes then leaving the store to doing 60mph blindfolded on a motorcycle.
With hints at penalties for those who fail or worse- snitch- there is of course the sense that it is all leading somewhere far more sinister.
Hell, Roberts is dressed as a literal Little Red Riding Hood at one point.
 |
| Emma Roberts and Dave Franco.... appealing leads |
"Nerve" is a slickly made film.
Set in a New York city oozing with neon lights and the glow of cellphones and awash in a melodically trippy score and extensive list of techno tracks it is easy on the eye and soothing to the ear.
It serves to soften the mood somewhat.
I could easily imagine this being made as a grimier, grittier affair with an older cast by someone like David Fincher whose disappointing "The Game" from 1997 explored similar albeit less technology focused ground.
By having the fresh faced Emma Roberts and a non-R rating the message that nothing here is going to hurt too much is clear.
Having said that Roberts and Franco have good chemistry and as a movie aimed at a younger audience it has plenty to offer.
"Nerve" does have something to say but I wonder if the message will get through to a generation married to their smartphones and born into a world where the internet has always existed.
Without spoiling the second half of the film there is a clear challenge to the viewer here and I found it quite effective.
 |
| Emily Meade, Miles Heizer and Machine Gun Kelly - cliched supporting characters played well |
Some of the tension that directors Joost and Schulman brought to the wonderfully creepy "Paranormal Activity 3" is introduced on occasion but I do wish that they had pushed just a little harder.
There is very little violence or profanity however and this is smart choice.
Not only does it broaden the potential audience to include all that its message is presumably aimed at but there is nothing too showy and exploitative to distract from the overall theme.
(Well, apart from a couple of underwear eye candy scenes for both male and female viewer alike as Roberts and Franco strip to their skimpies)
It does carry on the current trend of employing the hacker as Deus Ex Machina however.
We have seen the recent "Jason Bourne" chuck a conveniently unrealistic computer system hack in when the plot got pushed into a tight corner and "Nerve" employs it heavily too.
Honestly though it is best not to think too hard about the plot holes and technical impossibilities and just go along with it.
"Nerve"is not aiming for hyper realism after all.
 |
| The film is drenched in colour and light |
Also the supporting cast of characters - the slutty best friend, the nerdy guy with a crush on Vee, the edgy 'villain' are all terribly cliched but Emily Meade and Miles Heizer turn in very good performances.
My early concerns that this movie was trying to have its cake and eat it too were never really eased and I wonder if many who leave screenings will be wishing that they could play a game like the one featured here.
Showing something as fun and compelling is all well and good but you have to be very careful in flipping to the other side of the coin lest it still seem like an awful lot of fun regardless.
The game at the centre of "Nerve" is not too hard to imagine becoming a reality and I'm sure has already to some degree at least.
It may seem like a bit of fun but the ease with which we can connect to others hides a stark danger with anonymity excusing all sorts of behaviour.
This is clearly the message here and the irony was not lost on me as I left the cinema alongside a couple of dozen other people all checking their smartphones.
We are still waiting for the first truly great film that explores our current obsession with technology and the internet and even if "Nerve" isn't it it at least deserves credit for venturing in the right direction.
No comments:
Post a Comment