Dare (2009)

64% of critics liked it
(14 reviews)
34% of users liked it
(45,275 ratings)

In high school, what kind of person did you dare to be: risk-taking and lustful, melancholy and confused or simply safe and over-achieving? "Dare" follows three very different teenagers through the last semester of high school. There are Alexa, the overachieving good girl who longs to break out of… More In high school, what kind of person did you dare to be: risk-taking and lustful, melancholy and confused or simply safe and over-achieving? "Dare" follows three very different teenagers through the last semester of high school. There are Alexa, the overachieving good girl who longs to break out of her shell; Ben, the melancholy outsider confused about his sexuality; and Johnny, the rich kid who has everything, including good looks, but hides behind his bad boy persona. This unlikely trio fall into each other's lives and each other's arms, making a last ditch effort to shake things up before they actually have to start living as adults.

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 32 min.
Directed By: Adam Salky
Written By: David Brind
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: Nov 13, 2009 Wide
On DVD: Feb 9, 2010
Studio: Image Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer
Brind's screenplay is pregnant with fascinating questions of identity and social anxiety. And Salky knows how to create a mood.
Gerrick Kennedy, Los Angeles Times
The film lacks the comedic charm of American Pie, but with its dark, hyper-sexualization of teens, it offers an engrossing if not soap opera-esque tale of self-discovery.
A.O. Scott, New York Times
Dare feels a bit unfinished, at once overreaching and underrealized. But there is a lot of intelligence, and considerable daring, in the basic conceit.
V.A. Musetto, New York Post
Dare is a high school coming-of-age film that dares to push the envelope. It doesn't always succeed, but that's not for lack of trying.
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
The actors, all great camera subjects, help give director Adam Salky's overly pat movie a trace of confessional conviction.
Andrew Schenker, Village Voice
Zach Gilford's game performance is still no match for the film's catalog of easy ironies, awkward framings, and advice on how to play Blanche DuBois cribbed from season 4, episode 2 of The Simpsons.
Alonso Duralde, AfterElton.com
Unlike so many films that paint a rosy picture of adolescence for adults with fuzzy memories, Dare has the courage of its convictions.
John P. McCarthy, Boxoffice Magazine
Quite good in brief stretches but not distinguishable enough overall, freshman director Adam Salky's picture evinces the coming of age confusion he's chronicling.
Adam Lippe, Examiner.com
Director Adam Salky nails down the notion that when your fantasies come true, sometimes they are awkward and unsatisfying. There's a reason they didn't seem realistic.
Adam Keleman, Slant Magazine
Dare is substandard fare by all accounts, plucking its characters from past (and better) teen-angst films.
David Fear, Time Out New York
Adam Salky's high-school soap offers a virtual Spumoni of caricatured adolescent hand-wringing. When subtlety equals a drama-class performance of A Streetcar Named Desire's rape scene, expect a bumpy ride.
Fr. Chris Carpenter, Movie Dearest
(The film) failed to ring true for me...Too many of the sexual situations struck me as contrived.
Tim Grierson, Screen International
While not all the filmmakers' gambits work, this low-budget comedy is thematically daring and increasingly engrossing as it rolls along.
S. James Wegg, JWR
Adam Salky's entry into the coming of age genre ... tells the age-old story with a few interesting wrinkles.

Read all 14 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Thomas J

What a surprise! I knew nothing about this movie and watched based on my Netflix recommendation. For this movie, it was right on. It seems to be a typical teen drama but new twists are added that are interesting and make the movie unique and enjoyable.
♥˩ƳИИ &

Cast: Emmy Rossum, Zach Gilford, Ashley Springer, Rooney Mara, Ana Gasteyer, Alan Cumming, Sandra Bernhard, Michael Cassidy, Cady Huffman, Brianne Berkson, Adam Fleming, Chris Riggi Director: Adam Salky Summary: In their final semester before graduation from an affluent suburban… More
Cast: Emmy Rossum, Zach Gilford, Ashley Springer, Rooney Mara, Ana Gasteyer, Alan Cumming, Sandra Bernhard, Michael Cassidy, Cady Huffman, Brianne Berkson, Adam Fleming, Chris Riggi Director: Adam Salky Summary: In their final semester before graduation from an affluent suburban high school, good girl Alexa (Emmy Rossum), outcast Ben (Ashley Springer) and bad boy Johnny (Zach Gilford) decide to shed their youthful inhibitions and take some very grown-up risks. My Thoughts: "Although the story is interesting, the story doesn't leave you feeling like it's finished. I found Johnny Drake's character to be the much more interesting one of the three. He seems to be having some major issues and I'd liked to have known more of his story. I love Zach Gilford. I first saw him on 'Friday Night Lights'. He is a great actor and was great in the role of Johnny Drake. I feel like Alexa and Ben use Johnny to find out who they are. He is more of an experiment for them then a human being. When he becomes vulnerable in front of them, it seems it humanized him and they didn't know how to handle it. He was no longer seen as an object for their own needs anymore. It was interesting, and a different kind of teen angst film I thought I was in for. The film is sad, twisted, and unique considering it's not your average teen flick. Worth the watch."
Jake .

Dare really has a lot of potential genuis, but ultimately it falls flat. The film is incredibly scattered and really does not have any focus, and to top it off, all the characters and situations seemed really far fetched. In the begining we have good girl Alexa trying to "Do… More
Dare really has a lot of potential genuis, but ultimately it falls flat. The film is incredibly scattered and really does not have any focus, and to top it off, all the characters and situations seemed really far fetched. In the begining we have good girl Alexa trying to "Do Something You're Afraid Of", but then that fliight gets lost in midair. Then, in the middle, we have Ben, and his story makes absolutely no sense at all, so we are not even going to discuss it. And I do not really remember it. Finally, we end with Zach Gilford's character (I'm sure he had a name, but I have also forgotten it) who, consequently, is sleeping with both Ben and Alexa. Lovely, isn't it? Idk, in closing, the film left me confused. There are many interesting ideas presented throughout the whole duration, but none of them are really expanded on. I have no idea what Adam Salky was actually trying to say. Is the film about breaking out of one's shell? Trying to find one's in the world? Or something simple, like everyone is essentially messed up, or three-way sex is not a good idea. In the hands of someone like Sam Mendes, I think Dare could be absolutely amazing, but as it is, it just is not that great. Still, I enjoy watching it enough, and it tries so very hard, and you've got to give it credit for that. One final note: It makes me so happy that Bon Voage's song "Monster" was used. I realize that is completely shallow and irrelevant, but I love the song. Seriously, now? "I wish I was a monster/ I would hide under your stairs / I wish I was a nightmare / I'd give you a scare"
jay n

Nothing special and why do these high school seniors all look over 25? Because they are! With teen actors everywhere you look they couldn't find three to star in this?
Sunil J

I enjoyed this quite a bit. Emmy Rossum was a lot of fun, as was the rest of the cast.