Dare (2009)

A drama centered around three high school seniors - an aspiring actress, her misfit best friend, and a loner - who become engaged in an intimate and complicated relationship.

Director:

Adam Salky

Writer:

David Brind

Stars:

Emmy Rossum, Cady Huffman, Ashley Springer

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Emmy Rossum	...	Alexa Walker
Cady Huffman	...	Dr. Kolton
Ashley Springer	...	Ben Berger
Matthew Garrick	...	School Principal
Brianne Berkson	...	Gabby
Lucy McMichael	...	Ms. Davis
Annie Hibbs	...	Donna
Zach Gilford	...	Johnny Drake
Chris Riggi	...	Josh
Rooney Mara	...	Courtney
Alan Cumming	...	Grant Matson
Emily McNamara	...	Grant's Friend
Suzanne Savoy	...	Deirdre Walker
Adam Fleming	...	Detention Teacher
Ana Gasteyer	...	Ruth Berger

Storyline

It's the final semester before graduating from high school, and aspiring actress and good girl Alexa (Emmy Rossum), her outcast gay best friend Ben (Ashley Springer), and loner bad boy Johnny (Zach Gilford), go outside their comfort zones, and throw caution to the wind as they venture into unfamiliar young adult sexual grounds. A bumpy ride of high emotion, betrayal, heartbreak, and sexual experimentation.

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Plot Keywords:

aspiring actress | gay best friend | outcast | gay | psychiatrist patient relationship | 

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Taglines:

Do something you're afraid of.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content, language and alcohol use - all involving teens

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 May 2011 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Dare - Hab' keine Angst, tu's einfach!

Filming Locations:

Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Next Wednesday Productions, Gigantic Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min 100 min (European Film Market)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Adam Fleming, who plays the detention hall teacher, played the main character of Ben in the short film (also titled "Dare") on which this movie is based.

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Quotes

Ben Berger: You can try and play all mature and worldly, but you're not. You're still the same scared, pathetic, perfect little girl.
Alexa Walker: And you're still the same bitter, lonely loser who can't stand to see me have a life because you've never had one.

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Connections

Remake of Dare (2005)

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Soundtracks

"String Quartet in E-Flat Major, Op. 33, No. 2"
Written by: Joseph Haydn
Performed by: Oceana String Quartet

User Reviews

A surprisingly good elaboration of a favorite gay short film.

Dare was a genuinely surprising film. Having seen the short years ago at a gay film fest I thought that I knew what the story would be about and I was fully prepared to be disappointed that the feature wasn't as good as the short. Boy was I wrong! The film took me places I didn't expect and left me with images and ideas that I'll remember for a long time. There were likable, realistic characters that I genuinely cared about and a well written feature-length storyline that neatly incorporated the short that preceded it.

There were spots where the film showed its indie-film roots but, for the most part, the scenes were studio grade. The dialog was mostly well written, the actors knew their craft, and the director succeeded in bringing all of the filmic elements together better than most works of this kind. The overall tenor of the film was moderately light-hearted considering the subject matter and does a nice job of balancing the problems of high-school life with its promise.

Zach Gilford did a great job and turned a character that I thought of as a bit of a cad in the short into a sympathetic waif.

This is NOT a major studio release and if you go into it looking for that you'll be disappointed but if you'd like to see a nice small movie that treats issues of being gay in high-school as just one issue that today's youth deal with, then this may be the film for you.