SECOND SCREEN
Nerve (15A) didn’t sound like my sort of film at all, with its story of unhappy US teenagers getting caught up in an addictive online game of dare that tempts them to take ever greater risks in exchange for money and fame.
This is not a game for retiring wallflowers. Which is a shame, as that’s exactly what Vee (Emma Roberts) is: a shy student who dreams of going to art school but knows her miserable mother (Juliette Lewis) can’t afford it.
She’s resigned to her situation until her supposed best friend humiliates her in public, and something inside Vee snaps. If Sydney (Emily Meade) is going to play the highly secretive game called Nerve, then so is Vee. The dénouement to this excellent film is a bit too clever for its own good, but its point about the dangers of online anonymity is bang on the money.
Pete’s Dragon (PG) is a remake of the 1977 Disney film, but there are big changes. Out go the songs and animation, in comes realism (dragons notwithstanding) and a story that sees young Pete orphaned by a car crash only to be adopted by a large CGI dragon called Elliott, pictured below.
This remake delivers the goods, helped by a strong cast and a wellconstructed story.
Mike And Dave Need Wedding Dates (16) will raise a few titters among a younger crowd but it doesn’t deliver much more. Adam Devine and Zac Efron play the Stangle brothers, whose habit of wrecking family occasions prompts their parents to issue an ultimatum: they can attend their sister’s wedding in Hawaii only if they have dates, the idea being that nice, sensible girls might keep them in check. But nice, sensible girls do not answer their classified ads. This charmless affair lurches from one clunky set piece to another, with Devine overacting and Kendrick totally failing to convince.