Review: "Truth or Dare"

“Truth or Dare” is less a work of creative effort than a piece of merchandise you order up on your phone. It’s disposable entertainment, the cinematic equivalent of gas station pizza -- more notable for its availability than any brush with quality.

It has all the distinguishing markers of low-grade, uninspired horror these days: kitschy premise that combines an old-timey concept with social media omni-connectivity; enough violence to seem “hard” while staying safely within the confines of the economically palatable PG-13 box; an improbably attractive cast of high school- or college-age students, played by actors bumping up against -- and in a couple cases, cruising right past -- age 30; the old saw of “the game turns deadly” as youthful frivolity gives way to mounting mayhem; a toll of deaths that steadily bumps up the body count while the remaining characters frantically test the limits of the “you can’t stop it” confines.

This is the sort of movie that introduces rules that, while fantastical, at least give some definition to the boundaries of the arena in which the game will be played. Then, when these grow inconvenient to the storytelling, blows right past them.

For instance: the idea of “Truth or Dare” is that a bunch of college students head down to Mexico to party during spring break, are lured to a creepy old mission where they play the naughty eponymous game. Even after they return home, they are forced to keep playing, with death the certain outcome if they don’t go along.

Well, anybody who could get into college -- even a nondescript SoCal party school -- would soon be able to figure out to choose “truth” every time. Embarrassing secrets may hurt you, but at least that way the demonic force running the game can’t make you, say, smash your best friend’s hand with a hammer, or slash your lover’s throat open.

Director Jeff Wadlow, who co-wrote the script with three others, explodes this obstacle by inserting the “two truths and a dare” rule. Apparently, the first group of youngsters who played this game created their own addendum which says that after two people choose truth in a row, the next one must choose dare. For some reason, this change then applies to the next group to play.

(Personally, I didn’t know demons allowed those forced to play its nasty little games to change the rules at their whim. If so, and considering this involves partying college students, I’m surprised the game wasn’t further altered to add a whole lot of trou-dropping.)

Lucy Hale heads up the cast as Olivia, the prototypical “sweet ‘n’ smart girl” who we know will wind up as one of the last survivors. She wanted to build houses with Habitat for Humanity during spring break, but got roped into fun by her best friend, Markie (Violett Beane).

Other members of the crew include the ubiquitous Jerky Guy (Nolan Gerard Funk), Drinky Girl (Sophia Ali), Dweeby Creep (Sam Lerner), Nice Gay Guy (Hayden Szeto) and Dreamy Dude Who’s With the Wrong Girl (Tyler Posey).

The way the demon -- who’s named Calix, btw -- communicates his commands is supposed to be horrifying, but it’s actually ridiculously goofy. People’s faces twist into a rictus grin, sort of like the Joker’s, croaking “truth or dare.” It feels more like a Hunter S. Thompson druggie mind-warp than supernatural terror.

Dropping acid would admittedly be more dangerous than watching this movie, but certainly more fun.

Review: "The Edge of Seventeen"

We see a lot of teenagers in the movies, but it’s almost always an ersatz version. They’re much smarter, braver, more beautiful and interesting than real teens. Not to mention, they’re generally played by actors ranging from mid-20s up to nearly AARP.

The last time I spotted a zit on the face of a movie teen, I considered it a major triumph.

Audiences are used to the chicanery and understand they’re watching Hollywood Teens, not any honest attempt to depict the real thing. That is what it is, but it does create an emotional disconnect from the people we’re watching.

“The Edge of Seventeen” is a keener and truer take on teendom than we’ve seen in a while.

Hailee Steinfeld -- actually a teenager -- plays Lakewood High School junior Nadine, who has but one friend in the world and trouble connecting to anybody else. Her widowed mother (Kyra Sedgwick) is frazzled and harried, and older brother Darian (Blake Jenner) is handsome, popular and wants nothing to do with Nadine.

Nadine likes to wear weird clothes, trade insults with her burnt-out history teacher, Mr. Bruner (Woody Harrelson), and fantasize about hooking up with local bad boy Nick (Alexander Calvert), whom she’s never even spoken to. She’s dorky, clever, wickedly funny and rather glorious. But she sees herself as awkward and unloved, and that’s a hard feeling to shake.

Things go from bad to worse when her best (really, only) friend, Krista (Haley Lu Richardson), hooks up with brother Darian at a party. After an appropriate freak-out period, she’s willing to abide the episode as a one-off -- but then Darian and Krista decide to make it a permanent thing.

Seeing this as the ultimate betrayal, Nadine launches herself into a vortex of loneliness and increasingly bad behavior. She sees herself as an outcast who’s grown content with her small, stable patch of emotional turf. When that’s yanked away, Nadine feels homeless and alone.

Written and directed by Kelly Fremon Craig, “Seventeen” is narratively unstructured and messy, but it’s also dashingly original and full of juice. The characters behave in a way that’s consistent with their impulses rather than just to further the plot down the road.

Steinfeld is astonishingly frank and vulnerable as Nadine in a way that recalls Molly Ringwald’s better movies with John Hughes. There’s one scene where she’s peeing in a public restroom and suddenly looks up and asks God why he never gave her a break. It’s played for laughs, but also has unexpected poignancy.

Nadine’s relationship with Mr. Bruner also goes sideways from what we expect. Normally a caustic mentor type slowly warms to the youngster, but Harrelson always looks like he’d rather leave the room than bestow advice. Nadine berates him as a balding, lonely loser, and even goes so far as to offer the clichéd outcome herself: “You should date my mother!” But the movie keeps us guessing about him.

I also really liked Hayden Szeto as Erwin, a nerdy kid from school who has a huge crush on Nadine, but tries to play it off as coolly as he can – which is to say, not very much. He’s in many ways Nadine’s perfect male counterpart, trying to fake his way to social status and not fooling anyone. Like her, all he needs is to slow down, do what comes natural and don’t worry about the consequences.

You can pretty much say the same thing about teenager movies in general. Just allow the kids be kids … and maybe let them have a few pimples, too.