Mia Kirshner and Meredith Monroe star in this accidentally comic mystery about a drug overdose at the fictional Colby University in North Carolina. Alicia Glazer (Kirshner) lies in a hospital bed in a coma as the new sheriff (Taye Diggs) in town investigates the strange circumstances surrounding her OD.
As unbelievable as this sounds, this movie falls prey to one my least favorite cliches in attempting to portray Kirshner as a homely girl who needs only the mid-party ministrations of her co-stars to transform into a gorgeous starlet. One of Kirshner's recent movies (Not Another Teen Movie) lampooned this ridiculous plot device to great effect. Even with her hair in a pony tail and a slightly less put together look, it is obvious that she is a very beautiful woman which makes the subsequent "transformation" much less striking.
The movie suffers most in its structure. The plot is developed through a series of flashbacks told from multiple points of view and mostly in reverse order. Flashbacks within flashbacks further complicate matters to the point of ridiculousness. In one particularly artificial twist, Alicia stirs from her coma momentarily to reveal a crucial plot point in flashback form that we would have otherwise never have known only to drop back conveniently into oblivion shortly thereafter.
Additionally, the character of Acting Sheriff Artie Bonner presents another dilemma. He is alternately concerned and indifferent, professional and lascivious. He is also saddled with some of the worst lines of dialogue in the movie ("Sometimes you do what's right because you can't not"). His character is slapped with a sexual harassment suit at one point, but this seems only to be a technicality to him. Luckily, none of the other characters ever mention it again, nor does that loose end get tied up in the overly long denouement which consists mostly of Diggs staring at the sunset while dreamy voice-overs recap the plot to that point.
In spite of these problems, this movie is entertaining. I'd recommend it to anyone who knows not to expect too much from it. The shots of the College of Charleston are great. 6 out of 10.
As unbelievable as this sounds, this movie falls prey to one my least favorite cliches in attempting to portray Kirshner as a homely girl who needs only the mid-party ministrations of her co-stars to transform into a gorgeous starlet. One of Kirshner's recent movies (Not Another Teen Movie) lampooned this ridiculous plot device to great effect. Even with her hair in a pony tail and a slightly less put together look, it is obvious that she is a very beautiful woman which makes the subsequent "transformation" much less striking.
The movie suffers most in its structure. The plot is developed through a series of flashbacks told from multiple points of view and mostly in reverse order. Flashbacks within flashbacks further complicate matters to the point of ridiculousness. In one particularly artificial twist, Alicia stirs from her coma momentarily to reveal a crucial plot point in flashback form that we would have otherwise never have known only to drop back conveniently into oblivion shortly thereafter.
Additionally, the character of Acting Sheriff Artie Bonner presents another dilemma. He is alternately concerned and indifferent, professional and lascivious. He is also saddled with some of the worst lines of dialogue in the movie ("Sometimes you do what's right because you can't not"). His character is slapped with a sexual harassment suit at one point, but this seems only to be a technicality to him. Luckily, none of the other characters ever mention it again, nor does that loose end get tied up in the overly long denouement which consists mostly of Diggs staring at the sunset while dreamy voice-overs recap the plot to that point.
In spite of these problems, this movie is entertaining. I'd recommend it to anyone who knows not to expect too much from it. The shots of the College of Charleston are great. 6 out of 10.
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