Nerve (2016), PG-13, ★★1/2

She's playing a game. It's not The Game, though.

The Internet is a haven for people to get access onto any coverage that entices people to get sucked into an environment that seems entertaining, informative or from reality. Nowadays, I believe it is easier for hackers or thieves to conceptualize a game or plan onto a site and seduces customers or viewers to do whatever they want for pleasure or for money. It is ironic and scary for this movie to be released during the time in which many people are playing Pokemon GO that propels many teenagers or young adults to go outside and look for Pokemon for points. It is a smart app with a few pros and cons. But, this is not a business blog. Nevertheless, this movie spawns a cool idea and intriguing premise, the movie is thin on unnecessary supporting characters and the plot veers onto dark territory that becomes not as engaging nor as addressed as an informative message.

Venus "Vee" Delmonico (Emma Roberts) is a high school senior living in Staten Island. She gets a Skype chat notification from her friend, Sydney (Emily Meade). Syd mentions a game called "Nerve" in which involves "watchers" and "players" - the players are given dares in exchange for money, the watches pay to watch everything happen. Syd has signed on to to play and invites Vee to play, but she declines. Vee wants to go to college but she cannot hide the fact that she and her mother, Nancy (Juliette Lewis) are still grieving after the loss of Vee's brother.

After a negative response from Vee's crush, J.P. (Brian Marc), Vee goes home upset and logs onto the Nerve website and is told the rules before she makes her move. If they do not record themselves and perform the dare, they lose all their money. Also, nobody can snitch on Nerve, otherwise, it ends badly. Ver calls one of her friends, Tommy (Miles Hezier), for dinner as she has to kiss a stranger for five seconds for $100. She spots Ian (Dave Franco) and Tommy records them kissing, while he has a bit of a crush on her. Ian later goes to Vee's table to go to the city with him for $200. They leave on a motorcycle, leaving Tommy behind. Their adventure begins.

Dave Franco on a motorcycle.

This movie is nifty and swift as we go along the journey with Ian and Vee and many supporting players. However, that is a problem. I was particularly invested in the two main characters and a few supporting characters so I felt there some unnecessary supporting characters just to support the protagonist and or explore what is going on in their own game. I actually wanted to know what started the "Nerve" game, who started it and why because from its execution, the game was just set up to play. We do not get to explore much insight as to the creator's background or the creator.

Emma Roberts and Dave Franco individually are not as appealing as she has to deal with her being an introverted senior with goals and Franco being heavily involved with the game because of one purpose. But, together, they both have chemistry and that's when most of the film actually worked. The supporting characters regarding Vee's friends are mostly pawns in the game as they try to find out what is going on with Vee and also trying to get Vee to escape from the game as it transitions the tone to fun techno thriller to a dark cyber-thriller. I found it more fun in the first half.

Thinking about it after leaving the theater, I thought, "Dang, this is a scary type of movie because it is probably happening right now". I felt that the better movie which sets up this type of "dare" game is David Fincher's underrated film, The Game. Fincher's movie integrates suspense and strange things into the investment banker's life and become of an apparent suspicion. It gets you hooked. I felt like there was very little suspense even though there is a solid payoff in the end but it was mostly a tonal shift to manipulate me into getting Vee's life back. It is not earned. Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman paces the film real well and it is a stylistic thriller, however, the second half of its story was a bit hokey into manipulating the characters into a dark climax that become pretentious. I'd say it would be a cool movie to watch on cable or to rent. It's not a bad movie but there's little insight in this story for me to care about its characters' fates.

**1/2