Gossip is a dvd I had always fancied buying not because of Norman Reedus but due to James Marsden and my love affair with X-Men. Even though Gossip was a film I wanted to see it has taken me a long time to add it to my collection.
I go through phases people - it’s how I roll.
PLOT: Three college flatmates Derek (James Marsden), Jones (Lena Hedley) and Travis (Norman Reedus) decide to team up and prepare a group thesis based on gossip. They spread a rumour that two drunken students sleep together at a party in order to see how it develops. Proceedings take a sinister turn whenever Naomi (Kate Hudson) realises she cannot remember sleeping with Beau (Joshua Jackson) and becomes convinced that she has been date raped. The rumour gets out of control. The friends begin to panic. Things aren’t quite what they seem. What harm can gossip really do as after all its just words…. END PLOT
The plot is pretty solid and once the rumour has been spread there are a few good twists and turns thrown in to keep things moving at a fast pace. Contrary to its success, or lack thereof, at the box office Gossip is quite a strong thriller.
A small flaw in the plot would be that the police involvement in the film never amounted to anything more than a short interview with Naomi. There did not appear to be a medical examination which would have cleared up matters once and for all. Although Naomi was the victim Gossip isn’t her story - the focus stays solely on the rumour and the three flatmates therefore any facts which came out of a police investigation may have been ignored by the masses in favour of a more juicy or controversial outcome.
Watching the rumour spread and grow is the most interesting part of the film as you know that in real life events could very easily take a similar turn. It was interesting to watch the student populace turn on Beau based on nothing more than a rumour only to then turn on others when the truth was finally exposed.
The cast were all fine. James Marsden, best known for playing Cyclops, always got a raw deal in the X-Men films but he shows in Gossip that he can carry the lead role in a film. Marsden oozes a charm he which can instantly flip into something much darker.
Norman Reedus was also good as the awkward art student - knowing that Reedus is an artist in real life really made me pay attention to all the artwork in the film as I knew it was all his - I loved the flatmates sofa throw!
I go through phases people - it’s how I roll.
PLOT: Three college flatmates Derek (James Marsden), Jones (Lena Hedley) and Travis (Norman Reedus) decide to team up and prepare a group thesis based on gossip. They spread a rumour that two drunken students sleep together at a party in order to see how it develops. Proceedings take a sinister turn whenever Naomi (Kate Hudson) realises she cannot remember sleeping with Beau (Joshua Jackson) and becomes convinced that she has been date raped. The rumour gets out of control. The friends begin to panic. Things aren’t quite what they seem. What harm can gossip really do as after all its just words…. END PLOT
The plot is pretty solid and once the rumour has been spread there are a few good twists and turns thrown in to keep things moving at a fast pace. Contrary to its success, or lack thereof, at the box office Gossip is quite a strong thriller.
A small flaw in the plot would be that the police involvement in the film never amounted to anything more than a short interview with Naomi. There did not appear to be a medical examination which would have cleared up matters once and for all. Although Naomi was the victim Gossip isn’t her story - the focus stays solely on the rumour and the three flatmates therefore any facts which came out of a police investigation may have been ignored by the masses in favour of a more juicy or controversial outcome.
Watching the rumour spread and grow is the most interesting part of the film as you know that in real life events could very easily take a similar turn. It was interesting to watch the student populace turn on Beau based on nothing more than a rumour only to then turn on others when the truth was finally exposed.
The cast were all fine. James Marsden, best known for playing Cyclops, always got a raw deal in the X-Men films but he shows in Gossip that he can carry the lead role in a film. Marsden oozes a charm he which can instantly flip into something much darker.
Norman Reedus was also good as the awkward art student - knowing that Reedus is an artist in real life really made me pay attention to all the artwork in the film as I knew it was all his - I loved the flatmates sofa throw!
The film must be considered a success for the fact that the queen of lazy rom-coms Kate Hudson isn’t annoying. This is a rare achievement which deserves acknowledgment - that girls career took a swan-dive the minute she met Matthew McConaughey.
Gossip was filmed in 2000 which was just before the outbreak of social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter. It would be interesting to see just how different the film would be if it was made in 2010 as so much more could have done with the idea.
I think that Gossip should have been much more successful than it was - it is ironic that a film about gossip and rumour couldn’t muster up the word of mouth to give it some of the success it deserved. It is a very good 90min thriller that can easily be rewatched.
Gossip was filmed in 2000 which was just before the outbreak of social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter. It would be interesting to see just how different the film would be if it was made in 2010 as so much more could have done with the idea.
I think that Gossip should have been much more successful than it was - it is ironic that a film about gossip and rumour couldn’t muster up the word of mouth to give it some of the success it deserved. It is a very good 90min thriller that can easily be rewatched.
This sounds pretty solid, I vaguely remember hearing about it back when it came out. It would be kind of funny to see how this would work in a social media world. These kind of films are always interesting when they have a group of actors right before they hit it big in other endevours. I've always though you get a better idea of what kind of actors they are in these earlier works.
ReplyDeleteSolid sums it up perfectly!
ReplyDeleteKate Hudson was very fine in the film and showed she can act. I think she has just gotten sucked in the rom-com circle of hell and needs an escape route.
From the Reedus Season point of you Gossip is better than Tough Luck but Six Ways To Sunday is still top of the pile :-D
I agree with you K about Hudson, just sucked into that whirlpool, never to be seen again. How many films are left on the Reedus tour?
ReplyDeleteReedus has been in an awful lot and funds are low so I will stock up on dvds next month!
ReplyDeleteYou are stuck with my dvd reviews for a while yet ;-)
Might do Blade2 over the weekend as I already have it knocking around somewhere.