Review of Nerve (2016) by Jeff B — 02 Sep 2016

Sporting a crackerjack premise that's as cracked up as it is jacked in to the social media scene, this teen friendly thriller shows a lot of nerve but not nearly as much brains. Just as Unfriended capitalized on our small screen obsessed lives to deliver an original and timely horror flick, Nerve accomplishes nearly the same with about as much success. Watching young beautiful people go about accepting death defying challenges for the dubious glory of Facebook-type "Likes" and Internet fame does present a fastening set-up. Call it Internet Daring. Also, notice the word "dubious" as the movie also tries to deliver a message, as in this 15-Minute faceless adulation might seem like friendly activity but actually falls far from it.

In this PG-13-rated mystery, a high school senior (Roberts) finds herself and another online personality (Franco) immersed in an online game of truth or dare, where her every move starts to become manipulated by an anonymous community of "watchers.".

Just as the flick tries to zero in on our accelerated disconnected society as the major talking point so too is the movie's execution accelerated and disconnected. For every ho hum stunt performed during the course of the 90 minute film, there is another exciting distraction right around the corner. This works for better and worse as not every challenge proves as thrilling as the next but the turnaround is quick enough to keep moviegoers somewhat vested...somewhat. The simpleton story is threaded through frequent action set pieces, which means that it falls on the cast to really sell audiences on the low-gear story. Thankfully, just like the minor social media celebrities they portray, Roberts and Franco reel you in with believable chemistry from the get-go.

Bottom line: Dot Coma.