Gossip [DVD]

I'm surprised that reviews of this tidy little work are so mixed. It's a reliable enough recipe: take 'The Talented Mr. Ripley' and mix with 'House of Games,' but lighten it up with a dash of glitz, a fetching fantasy of idealized college life, and no major downer at the end :-)The young actors are pretty and some are talented, and the dialogue is not bad -- some of it is actually rather good. The sets are a bit much, imho -- one wonders just how plush Derek's trust fund is, after seeing the "undergrad apartment" which few dotcom lottery winners could afford to keep up. There's a relentless prettiness to most of the backdrops even when they're trying to look noir, but that can be forgiven in a film which is really more stage play than cinema. The cinematography is mostly effortless and unobtrusive; there are a couple of arty little touches, but it's not self-indulgent.Supporting cast do their jobs reliably; the brief scene in a high school admin office (where "Jones" is pursuing her investigation) is nicely played all the way into the far background of the shot. Some of the young extras definitely seem to be trolling for work (it's just amazing how pretty everyone is in this universe!) but it's all in good fun.Marsden does very well with the Ripleyesque protagonist. His Marvel Comics good looks and alarming glibness are quite convincing; I loathed "Derek" after only a few minutes, and enjoyed Marsden's enjoyment of the role. Actually I should confess, I watched the film only because I like Edward James Olmos and never miss a chance to see him even in a small part; but was pleasantly surprised -- enjoyed it far more than I expected to.One thing I appreciated about the script was a minor surprise value. Not Derek's true nature -- it's evident from the git-go, so no surprises there; and we know that poor, bewildered Jones will indeed figure it out given time (if nasty Derek doesn't push her down a staircase first, of course). The surprise I rather liked was that the film threatens for a moment to turn into another poor-little-falsely-accused-fellow saga, a sort of Dinesh D'Souza flavoured backlash tract on the wickedness of ruining young men's lives by actually taking rape seriously. Just as one is saying Oh Gawd, spare us -- it lightly skips away from the brink of disaster and delivers a far more palatable (and imho useful) message. It may be rather slickly wrapped, and admittedly unoriginal; but the basic lesson (that liars and users are despicable no matter how handsome/rich/cool they are) is one the human race can always do with.One thing that amused me considerably was the fluency, the articulate command of language which these "college students" converse and declaim. I work at a University, and the undergraduates with whom I come in daily contact seem to have vocabularies of less than 800 words, including a fairly rich, repetitive admixture of the short one that starts with F. I would very much like to think that films like this could revive an interest in being articulate, witty, and intelligent-sounding among undergraduate and high-school age people; I've become a bit weary of the fashion for sounding and acting illiterate and stupid.Well, end of rant :-) I think this is a well-crafted, undemanding, fresh and shiny little work that may entertain people even a few years from now. It has a peculiar style and sparkle which oddly enough remind me of films of the late 30's and early 40's. I'd recommend it.Someone should compile a good list of films about compulsive liars and charming sociopaths -- 'All About Eve' comes to mind, 'Ripley' of course, and 'Deathtrap' -- I think 'Gossip' would be worthy of inclusion. Timothy Dalton in 'Framed' would make the list, with an honourable mention for his youthful effort as the sinister young King of France in 'The Lion in Winter'.

It doesn't really matter who sleeps with whom in this sub-MELROSE PLACE college fantasy, GOSSIP is ludicrous trash, but it has style. Beautiful faces, beautiful clothes, deluxe interiors and lots of breaking glass - while its story makes no sense whatsoever. It'd be a perfect movie to watch while sloppy drunk or in between bong hits. Imagine a hysterically overwrought episode of FELICITY crossed with the hit-and-run Gen-X angst thriller BODY SHOTS and you more or less have the measure of this loopy Bad Movie delight about what happens when poisonous rumors take on a life of their own.It begins in a college journalism class, where a super-hip professor (professional ranteuse Eric Bogosian) is lecturing on the blurring of news and entertainment. Assigned to write a paper on the topic, three super-cool students - Lena Headey, James Marsden and Norman Reedus - decide to go the prof one better. They devise a project: They're going to start a virulent rumor and plot its spread through the student body. Headey comes up with the idea, but Marsden supplies the buzz -- he catches a glimpse of super-snotty, vociferously chaste fellow student Kate Hudson in a drunken swoon in the arms of her boyfriend, (Joshua Jackson). Marsden proposes that they concoct a story that Hudson was seen doing the nasty with Jackson, run it up the flagpole and see who salutes. To the trio's smug delight, everyone does, embellishing and spinning bizarre variations on the original. But within 24 hours the story has mutated into sordid accusations of date rape, Hudson is filing charges and Headey is having second thoughts about their little jaw-wagging joyride.Art-directed within an inch of its chichi life (does it come as any surprise that executive producer Joel Schumacher originally conceived it as a project for himself?), GOSSIP is so thoroughly preposterous on every level that the only way to enjoy it is to throw logic to the wind and groove on Marsden's cheekbones and the shelter-porn appeal of his super-swanky loft.Marsden is a rich-kid college student who's apparently paying the freight for his two best pals to room in his enormous duplex loft. We're in an unnamed city somewhere on the Eastern seaboard; a few clues are dropped to suggest it might be Manhattan. (Like almost every American movie in Hollywood's neo-cheapskate era, Gossip was actually filmed in Canada.) If so, one could guess Marsden's dad is the supreme potentate of an oil-exporting nation. Nobody in New York -- at least, nobody below about Marla Maples' level - lives in an apartment like this. (Marsden's inverted-funnel teakettle looks like it cost more than all the furniture in our early-'80s college household put together.)With his big, angular head and perennial sneer, Marsden is the poor man's Matt Damon while Headey's English-rose complexion, shaggy do and thrift-store queen costumes suggests Helena Bonham Carter (in her FIGHT CLUB trash-bag mode). Headey and Marsden are clearly in the film as design elements, and the camera lingers on them in long, honey-dipped closeups, serving as counterpoint to all the converted industrial interiors, flickering video screens and rain-swept city streets. The only reason to be interested in Marsden and Headey's will-they-or-won't-they dance is a desire to see one or both of them shirtless - but all of this goes down as smoothly as that third cosmopolitan. ( It's not like you give a fig about any of the characters).One can only guess that Bogosian thought he could sneak a fat paycheck here, as a sanctimonious professor who delivers homilies about the difference between gossip and news, without the hipster fans of his solo-performance incarnation noticing. Joshua Jackson's role as Hudson's accused rapist could have been filled by anyone. Maybe Jackson caught a cab across Toronto from the set of THE SKULLS (another campus thriller that makes GOSSIP look like the second coming of VERTIGO). All we can say about the spectacle of worthy actors like Sharon Lawrence and Edward James Olmos playing tiny roles in this guilty-pleasure tripe is: Yikes.Maybe one of them got to keep Marden's teakettle.

we have movie night once a week and this definitely fit. It has some plot gaps but the twists and turns are fun and suspenseful and the cast was wonderful. Norman Reedus stole this baby. He played the quiet, shy, artistic type to perfection. His performance alone is worth the time spent. But check it out and I think you'll be as pleasantly surprised as we were. Definitely worth it.

ノーマンリーダース目当で観ましたが、想像以上に面白かった。この映画はU-NEXT限定で日本語字幕付きで観られる。初めはこれで観ました。特典映像も観たくてDVDを買ったのですが日本版で是非出してほしいですね

As a fan of each cast member, it seemed an obvious choice to buy this DVD and give it go. I'll admit my expectations were low when I decided to watch it but I was pleasantly surprised.The script is good, the acting is reasonable and the story is great with added plot twists which are not too obvious. Reedus and Jackson great in this and I was slightly disappointed that Hudson didn't have a bigger role.Quality of my DVD was perfect and it arrived in quick time too.

Oh my god I love this movie, it's amazing and wow what an ending. As i said before in another review I bought this because of Norman Reedus, but the movie did not disappoint at all.I've watched it so many times since I've had it that I've lost count. Absolutely love everything about the movie and Norman Reedus stole the movie for me :)I have to say thank you for the speedy postage, it came within two days after ordering it !!

Loved this film the first time round, loved it now. Such a great cast and the storyline even better everyone knows that gossip spreads and changes from person to person

It said really good quality when I purchased it and it's not too bad other than a horrible hum in the back ground through the majority of the film.