Review of Dare (2009) by Ceph J — 11 Aug 2011

"Dare" refers to fulfilling your sexual fantasies, in other words..."dare you be different?" Emmy Rossum is superb as Alexa who craves to be an actress but to perform "A Streetcar Named Desire" she needs to understand sexual desire, ala "Black Swan." Her BFF, Ben (Ashley Springer) is a closeted gay and wants to experience sex for the first time. Into their High School comes Johnny (Zach Gilford who's the most intriguing actor here) and they both use him for their motives. We get to see each charcter's perspective and we learn that Gilford is a lonely rich kid seeking any attention he can from both male and female interests. There's a great scene where he defends his friend against a homophobe.

The menage a trio is very interesting and unlike anything I've seen before. As a viewer, you don't know the degree of Gilford's bisexuality and you don't know the extent of Springer and Rossum's manipulations. The movie falters with defining Courtney's (Rooney Mara) latent lesbianism and her perspective would add to the mix even if the movie would take longer. Ana Gasteyer is notable in a supporting role as Ben's empathetic mom.

The ending is a slight copout; after investing so much time with these characters, we should learn where they're heading with their sexualities and ambitions. Hollywood makes sequels based on box office receipts or a studio's interest in making money. This is an independent film that I'd be interested in finding out how these characters turn out.