The Curve (1998)

Remember that random trend of talking about how if your roommate commits suicide, you get an automatic 4.0 GPA? Well, this is a movie about that. I'm not sure if the cause or the result of said trend, but it certainly picked a pretty poor release year since Dead Man on Campus also came out in 1998. Yes, that's another movie about roommates committing suicide (mostly not of their own accord) with truly tremendous side effects for their academically ambitious cohorts. The Curve actually had to change their original title (Dead Man's Curve) because of the college comedy. And with a $14 million budget, compared to the laughable $1 million that The Curve managed to procure, it's no surprise that nobody's heard of this film. But I'm here to deliver! My parents bought The Curve by accident from a Blockbuster discount bin when I was in high school, primarily because it was lacking a cover and was therefore being sold for the blow-out sum of like $3.99 (oh, how times have changed). I watched this film many a time; I recognized Keri Russell from that girly TV show; I recognized Matthew Lillard from his enviable list of accoladic teenage-movies. But going back and re-watching this film presented new delights due to a recent and memorable run-in with Michael Vartan in the form of Alias, that super hot supernatural spy show with Jennifer Garner. I love it when you go back and gain a new perspective due solely to your knowledge of the actor and their actions (proving once and for all that you can't separate the celebrity from the Hollywood)! This movie is pretty much guilty-pleasure teenage romp and roll, with plenty of twists and turns, deceits and betrayals, deaths and rebirths, and all the insensitive Lillard anyone could ask for (oh how his eyes haunt me!). The Curve is directed by Dan Rosen, this dude who's done basically nothing except for this and The Last Supper, another movie I saw entirely by accident and in Spanish (it was a lonely night in a Quito hotel...). All in all, not quite forgettable.

Final Judgment: "Epic nineties meets the college thriller!/Once again, Matthew Lillard makes or breaks!

Hey look: it's online!