"Nerve" is a 95-minute thriller from this year that is based on a novel by Jeanne Ryan. Jessica Sharzer ("Speak", "American Horror Story") adapted the work for the screen and the directors are Henry Joost and Ariel Schuman, both known mostly for "Catfish" so far. The lead actress is Emma Roberts and the only other cast members I knew in here were her co-lead Dave Franco, brother of James, and Juliette Lewis playing the main character's mother. Most of the cast, also because of the subject, are pretty young aspiring actors that do not (yet?) have a big name. I kinda liked Emily Meade (even if the friendship story between her and the main character was one of the weakest parts of the film) and I can see her having a good future in film. But let's look a bit at the now and this movie. It is a take on Big Brother with a mix of "Hunger Games" and an ounce of David Fincher's "The Game", so if you hear all this you already know it is a mostly dark take on the age of surveillance. Here we have a young woman who gets told by her best friend that she just isn't taking enough risks to lead a fulfilling life. So she agrees to join in a virtual reality game called "Nerve", in which she gets watched constantly by thousands of people while she has to fulfill quests. These quests quickly get her to join forces with Franco's character.
And from that moment on, the two are out there together and the Watchers see them and hope for them to start a relationship. There is some situational comedy in this film and this was mostly working well. But sadly, in stark contrast to that, the real core of the film was not working for the most part. I am referring to the dramatic thriller sequences. They start off okay, but the script is quickly lost in a whirlwind of desperate attempts to become more controversial, more shocking and more relevant. The social commentary/criticism, which is what the film really is all about, also with a reference to our world, becomes complete garbage at some point and lacks realism entirely. One major problem is Roberts' main character. In one scene, she is scared to step on the motorcycle, in the next she accelerated the bike with her driver blindfolded. A rush of adrenaline cannot explain that. Same can be said about the ladder climbing scene. Let's not forget: This film takes place over the course of one evening/night and I just refuse to believe a character would change like that from one second to the next on all these contradictory occasions.
At some point, I felt the film really went for nothing than shock value and it was very empty and irrelevant as a consequence. Police won't do anything to stop the hosts of the game, even after a kid died earlier and probably more did if we are taking into account all the risky action. But a teenage boy and his pals can hack into the system and send messages that call everybody an "accessory to murder". This was maybe the most embarrassing moment, even if the idea about ending it at the very end felt very false as a whole. And why would everybody, even the "bad" guy, know about her plan, but Franco's character, the one closest to her, would not know? There were just so many scenes that did not make any sense at all in the second half of the film. Emma Roberts did not impress me at all. Sure this is a film that is much more about the story and plot than about individual performances, but I was shocked how irrelevant her character and performance felt throughout the entire film. A more gifted actress certainly could have elevated the material and her speech in front of the crowd at the very end was nothing special either, more on the cringeworthy side. Franco, a fairly mediocre actor himself, looked really strong next too her. And Juliette Lewis? Oh well. I felt almost sorry for her about what they gave her in terms of the script. The character added absolutely nothing at all, but that's not Lewis' fault, just because of the way she was written. Apart from that, I refuse to believe that the crowd would really want a certain character here to die. First of all, humans aren't that cruel. Second of all, we were led to believe they loved her immediately the moment she entered the game. Make up your mind filmmakers and please don't give me the argument of people's opinions changing fast.
Okay, enough said. I am fairly disappointed here. This was definitely a missed opportunity. The film showed some solid premise early, but it quickly turned into a huge mess. I am actually glad it was relatively short and did not get any closer to the two-hour mark. I have not read the book this is based on, so no idea who is to blame and if the base material is also really weak, but if not, then I cannot image Ryan being too happy with the way this turned out overall. I just hope they don't get the idea at some point to make a sequel here. This original was already underwhelming enough. I certainly do not recommend the watch. The longer it went, the worse it became, also with the ridiculously bad rushed-in happy ending for everybody. Stay away from this film.
And from that moment on, the two are out there together and the Watchers see them and hope for them to start a relationship. There is some situational comedy in this film and this was mostly working well. But sadly, in stark contrast to that, the real core of the film was not working for the most part. I am referring to the dramatic thriller sequences. They start off okay, but the script is quickly lost in a whirlwind of desperate attempts to become more controversial, more shocking and more relevant. The social commentary/criticism, which is what the film really is all about, also with a reference to our world, becomes complete garbage at some point and lacks realism entirely. One major problem is Roberts' main character. In one scene, she is scared to step on the motorcycle, in the next she accelerated the bike with her driver blindfolded. A rush of adrenaline cannot explain that. Same can be said about the ladder climbing scene. Let's not forget: This film takes place over the course of one evening/night and I just refuse to believe a character would change like that from one second to the next on all these contradictory occasions.
At some point, I felt the film really went for nothing than shock value and it was very empty and irrelevant as a consequence. Police won't do anything to stop the hosts of the game, even after a kid died earlier and probably more did if we are taking into account all the risky action. But a teenage boy and his pals can hack into the system and send messages that call everybody an "accessory to murder". This was maybe the most embarrassing moment, even if the idea about ending it at the very end felt very false as a whole. And why would everybody, even the "bad" guy, know about her plan, but Franco's character, the one closest to her, would not know? There were just so many scenes that did not make any sense at all in the second half of the film. Emma Roberts did not impress me at all. Sure this is a film that is much more about the story and plot than about individual performances, but I was shocked how irrelevant her character and performance felt throughout the entire film. A more gifted actress certainly could have elevated the material and her speech in front of the crowd at the very end was nothing special either, more on the cringeworthy side. Franco, a fairly mediocre actor himself, looked really strong next too her. And Juliette Lewis? Oh well. I felt almost sorry for her about what they gave her in terms of the script. The character added absolutely nothing at all, but that's not Lewis' fault, just because of the way she was written. Apart from that, I refuse to believe that the crowd would really want a certain character here to die. First of all, humans aren't that cruel. Second of all, we were led to believe they loved her immediately the moment she entered the game. Make up your mind filmmakers and please don't give me the argument of people's opinions changing fast.
Okay, enough said. I am fairly disappointed here. This was definitely a missed opportunity. The film showed some solid premise early, but it quickly turned into a huge mess. I am actually glad it was relatively short and did not get any closer to the two-hour mark. I have not read the book this is based on, so no idea who is to blame and if the base material is also really weak, but if not, then I cannot image Ryan being too happy with the way this turned out overall. I just hope they don't get the idea at some point to make a sequel here. This original was already underwhelming enough. I certainly do not recommend the watch. The longer it went, the worse it became, also with the ridiculously bad rushed-in happy ending for everybody. Stay away from this film.