Review of Kaboom (2010) by Ws W — 19 Feb 2011

Some dialogue is funny. When 18-year-old Smith is asked about his sexuality by his college roommate he replies, "I'm undeclared." His girl date instructs him "Dude, keep it simple...you, me, intercourse." His BFF admonishes him, "You met a guy on the beach and the next minute, you're downloading his hard drive, you're a slut." These college kids have one thing on their mind, and it's not their classes. Later, during slurpy oral sex, London tells her partner, "It's a vagina, not a bowl of spaghetti.".

But, director Gregg Araki turns this screwball comedy about horny college kids into some supernatural thriller that ends with a campy "Kaboom." It's like throwing the kitchen sink at the audience and he commits the worst sin-- a boring movie is unforgivable. At first, Smith's dreams (played by a bland Thomas Dekker) act as premonitions and is intermingled with the comedy. The last half-hour takes a bloody and campy route that doesn't make any sense.

The actors are attractive but don't really act, they read their lines with an attitude. However, I enjoyed the screen presences of Juno Temple as London and Haley Barnett as Stella. I didn't like the lesbian stalker, evil witch character. I'm sure you won't hear any protests though since I think this is a gay director. Some years ago, he made a very good film called "Mysterious Skin" which is a masterpiece when compared with this one.