Review of Wasted (2006) by Edward R — 15 Feb 2009

Okay, this is the problem I have with films like this, which I like to call "snapshot movies." They present characters, show their situations and issues, watch them do a few things, and then leave those characters EXACTLY WHERE THEY FOUND THEM.

In this film, the title "Wasted" is apt, because when you finish it you feel you have just WASTED two hours watching people go nowhere. One main character throws everything away in a misguided act of penance, another waffles between cheating on his long-distance girl and avoiding the hot but clingy high-schooler with whom he just cheated, and a third actually appears to be progressing out of his pathetic and insecure shell until the gorgeous but seemingly kind girl who seems to be helping him do that drops him like a hot potato and he withdraws back to who and where he was before--that last one being absolutely painful to watch.

So not only did this movie go absolutely nowhere in every respect, it also committed the cardinal sin of setting up a happy ending and then throwing it to the dogs. Aggravating on almost every front, and not worth its few good parts or its commentary on life, high school, friendships, romance or anything else.