Are you auditioning to be a mod, David?

No. I don't want to be. I just feel today's three new wide releases deserve threads/polls. Particularly Jason Bourne.

Nerve has got some nerve, not as much as it might have had, but plenty to carry it's modestly ambitious story to the finish line. I liked the director's use of text mixed into the visuals. And I enjoyed the performance of Emma Roberts and Dave Franco, both of whom don't get enough feature work and are always worth seeing. A worthy reflection of the social media fame industry. *B+*

Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, who made the best Paranormal Activity film (number three) and conceived the distinctly modern Catfish franchise, Nerve centers on an online game in which players complete absurd, dangerous, and/or humiliating dares in return for a monetary reward. Over the course of one night, the life of an introverted Staten Island teenager (Emma Roberts) is upended as she and a handsome stranger (Dave Franco) unexpectedly become a popular duo among the game's viewership, the Watchers. Though it gestures toward social relevance—the dehumanizing power of an avatar and screen name and so on and so forth—this concept is mostly a reason to stage a series of set pieces and stunts: shoplift, reach 60 miles per hour on a motorcycle blindfolded, etc. And the film is largely entertaining as it goes. Certain scenes have a genuine sense of youthful abandon, of giving oneself over to the neon-lit magic and menace of the city at night. Plus, both stars are enticing: Roberts has a down-to-earth allure while Franco exudes rebel-without-a-cause magnetism in what may be the most convincing case yet for him as a movie star in his own right (versus being James' brother who also acts). Unfortunately, the end game is flawed. Its final bid to ratchet up the suspense and cement itself as a cautionary tale—guns enter the equation as Nerve shifts from foolhardy game to overtly lethal conspiracy—is a bridge too far and instead defuses the tension, and the ultimately facile presentation of ethics and technology is no longer veiled by an aura of sexy summertime escapism.

B-

I largely agree with this review. Emma Roberts and Dave Franco are both solid here, and the first part of the film has a relevant, entertaining sense of fun, but the climax is rather weak.

Mod, please move this thread!

I'm not a mod yet, bro.