Wednesday Review: Nerve

It’s interesting to note that I saw Nerve the day after the Nostalgia Critic posted his video “Can a Movie be so Good it’s Bad?” If there ever was such a film, it’s Nerve. This is a movie that’s begging to be turned into entertaining trash, and yet it’s been filled with talented actors and polished to a shine, then capped off with a touching love story.

All of this material would be great…in another movie. In this one, however, it’s just boring. The premise of this movie is that a girl played by the ever-talented Emma Roberts is utterly terrified of taking any risks. After her best friend embarrasses her in front of her crush, she decides In an effort to sign up for the titular online game where “Watchers” pay “Players” increasing amounts of money for escalating series of dares. While her goal is simply to do a single dare to prove she isn’t a coward, over the course of the night the game slowly turning her into more and more of an adrenaline junkie.

She finds herself teamed up with a mysterious man played by Dave Franco at the insistence of the Watchers. Despite this movie’s failure, it’s actually convinced me that Dave is the more talented of the Franco brothers. He sells every scene he’s in, managing to make himself likable, without ever losing his air of mystery until the movie is ready to tell us his backstory.

In a movie dealing with a game played through the internet it goes without saying that hackers will become involved. I’ll say that Hollywood has definitely taken major strides towards understanding how computers work. Some things still don’t make sense to me, but Bitcoin doesn’t make sense to me either, so I’m not going to stand on my high horse and claim that I know anything in this movie to be wrong.

The movie really suffers in the area of pacing. Firstly, there’s definitely room for sexual tension here, treating our protagonists like a serious blossoming romance just slows the film down. Secondly, the dares seem too episodic, ending far too cleanly. For one perfect example: When our heroes are forced to flee a clothing store into the streets of New York in their underwear to avoid shoplifting, the Watchers made sure new clothing was waiting for them when they got out. This means the dare doesn’t disadvantage them in any way going forward.

This is a movie that should be mounting insanity, as we see our heroine worn down and destroyed by the game, even as she grows addicted to it. Seeing her at the end, with her hair still perfect, we’re not really given any indication that she’s changed as a person. If anything, the changes the film shows us are entirely positive, which hardly plays into a movie that builds its entire premise around the cesspool that is anonymous internet culture.

On the flip side, the only character who poses loosely as an antagonist gets minimal screen time, none of which is used to do anything especially villainous. So at the end of the film, when we’re supposed to be afraid of him, I found myself utterly indifferent because the movie had done nothing to establish him as more than just another player. If anything, he comes across as likable and savvy to the game.

As with the rest of the film, the ending is far too neat, wrapping everything up in a nice bow. Quite frankly, the idea that this story could end so easily seems preposterous. It’s like Donald Trump’s promise to “shut down parts of the internet.” The viral destruction of people’s lives doesn’t end quickly or easily, and if you don’t believe me just ask Zoe Quinn.

It’s hard to say I don’t recommend this movie, just for the characters. Beyond that, however, it doesn’t feel like the movie I was promised. Maybe I should have been tipped off by the lack of an R-rating, but this shouldn’t be a movie where people talk about their feelings and the ethical use of technology. It should be a movie where these things are seen through implication.