I Triple Dog Dare You!

I'm back already. Still sick, but feeling a little better at least. I went to the theater yesterday, only to discover the times had changed, already, on the new Underworld film. Not wanting to stick around for over two hours, I instead got some lunch and just went home. As much as I hated to do so, I called off from work since I didn't want to make anyone there sick. I was also hoping an extra day of pill popping and napping would help me kick the cold. Once I was up for the day, until my nap which I think is coming up quick, I decided to get back to my old ways of watching a movie from Netflix, one from Instant Watch, and one of the movies I have in my own collection. I decided on a movie called Triple Dog (2010) mostly because it has a couple of actress' that I like in it.

Eve (Alexia Fast) is having a sleep over for her 16th birthday party. She has invited her best friend, bad girl Chapin (Britt Robertson), and friends Cicely (Janel Parrish), Sarah (Emily Tennant) and Nina (Carly McKillip). Also showing up is Liza (Scout Taylor-Compton), who was invited by Eve's mom. I took it that Eve and Liza were friends at one point, but are no longer. As the night goes on, Chapin starts to get bored and suggests that they all play a game called triple dog. More or less it is truth or dare, but without the truth part. The rules are simple enough, everyone gets a dare and everyone gives a dare. If you decide not to do the dare, or fail to do it, then your hair will get shaved off. Not everyone wants to play though, so a vote is taken and the majority wins out, so everyone is playing. As the dares play out, we slowly learn of another student who died a few months back. Stories vary on how she died, although they all agree that she jumped off a bridge...or did she? Chapin may know more about it, but whenever someone brings it up, she wants to fight instead of answering questions about it.

From what I had been reading about Triple Dog before watching it, it sounded like it could be close to a horror film. It doesn't sport the horror tag, but it does claim to be a thriller, which can sometimes be another name for a horror film. As it turns out, it is much more a teen drama, and not much of a thriller. Since I had already decided to review it, and the fact that I'm behind on reviews as it is, I'm still doing the review. I can't say that I have watched a lot of teen drama films, even when I was a teen, but I suppose you can do worse than Triple Dog. Either I'm out of touch or the game itself was invented for the movie. I've heard of, and even played, truth or dare (although I hate playing it). Of course I have heard of the phrase "I triple dog dare you." I've just never heard of it as a game before. The dares the girls ask each other to do are for the most part somewhat tame. The first one surprised me because of the edginess the film went for. The completely good girl Sarah was dared to run down the street completely naked. I found that funny, but wasn't expecting director Pascal Franchot to actually show it. Emily Tennant was doing her best to cover herself with her hands and arm, but I was still surprised by it all.

I found the dares to be somewhat original at least. Like peeing on the Principal's door step and stealing a porn magazine from a store that has a guard. I think the one that surprised me the most was trying to get one of the girls to get to third base with a guy. While I found this part of the film interesting, I did have some problems with things writer Barbara Marshall did at times. For one, the girls seem a little too hip with the constant use of slang terms and things like that. It might be the way teens are talking these days, but it will make the film seem more dated years down the road. I also didn't care much for how the flashbacks for Stacy (Julia Maxwell), the girl who died a few months before, were handled. One of the girls who shows up from time to time claims that Chapin knows more about than she lets on. She knows this because her mom works at the school this happened at. In the flashback we see the same girl there when it happened. Why she just doesn't say that though is something I'm still trying to figure out instead of just saying her mom works there so knows the story.

I thought the story was just okay in Triple Dog. It was a little slow in places, but it did make me laugh at times, and offered a few surprises at least. The real treat, for me at least, was watching Alexia Fast sharing the lead role, and watching Scout Taylor-Compton. I know not everyone likes Scout, but I do. I also know not many have probably heard of Alexia Fast, but I like her well enough. Because of Triple Dog, I just might have to check out other things Britt Roberston has been in. If teen drama's happen to be something you don't mind watching from time to time, Triple Dog might be worth checking out for you. If you aren't interested in them at all, then you aren't missing anything by skipping over it. Unless you happen to be a fan of an actress or two found within.
3 out of 5 That river didn't look deep enough to jump into, let alone drown in