Color, 1997, 92 mins.

Directed by Dan Rosen

Trimark

Format: DVD

Letterboxed (1.85:1)

The old urban legend (or campus legend, if you will) goes that if a student's roommate commits suicide, he gets a 4.0 grade point average for that semester to aid in coping with the grief process. While nobody seems to know how this little tale got started, it does get a thorough workover in The Curve (formerly known under the catchier title, Dead Man's Curve), a tricky if flawed thriller that delivers some nice twists and good performances for viewers willing to overlook some of its more self-indulgent moments. Interestingly, this shot-in-Baltimore film sat on the shelf for almost two years while its distributor decided how to handle the release of a very similarly themed film, Dead Man on Campus, which turned out to be a crushing dud in every respect. Thankfully, The Curve (which was shot earlier) is significantly better and doesn't really deserve its halfhearted straight-to-video treatment. Besides, if we can be saddled with two "Earth demolished by space projectile" movies during one summer, why not two "kill your roomie for a 4.0" movies, too?

Two college friends, Tim (Michael Vartan of Never Been Kissed) and Chris (Matthew Lillard of Scream, Hackers, and Serial Mom, and an actor who actually makes Nick Cage look restrained in comparison) devise an elaborate plot to throw their third roommate, the boorish Rand (Randall Batinkoff), off a cliff and establish the death as suicide. However, things don't go as planned when Rand's body disappears, and a police investigation begins to close in a little too close to home. Tim already finds himself beginnig to crack under the pressure of trying to get into Harvard grad school, not to mention sexual performance problems with his girlfriend (Felicity herself, Keri Russell, who does one scene in here her goody-goody TV persona would never allow). Tim discusses his problems with school shrink Dana Delaney, who begins to suspect that perhaps the boys have been up to no good.

Considering the film's low budget and its first time director status (Rosen also wrote the screenplay for the overrated indie favorite The Last Supper), The Curve generally works well as a Gen X twist on Alfred Hitchcock's Rope. The sardonic humor and plot twists manage to replace the expected cheap scares and gore you would normally expect, though Rosen throws in a few too many lame The Smiths jokes (yes, they're a downbeat British band, we get it, ha ha) and resorts to that well worn cliche, the barbaric cops who seem to do everything wrong. However, while the film is a bit tough to get into, the generally good performances and unexpected turns manage to salvage what could have been a by the numbers potboiler. All of the characters are generally unsympathetic jerks and spineless doormats, but this becomes the primary theme of the film: today's cutthroat society has forced people into predatory lifestyles even before they enter the job pool. The last ten minutes are particularly good, though "Psych" would have been a better final line than what the filmmakers chose. Of course, it's also great fun watching the up and coming cast members backstabbing each other for an hour and half; Vartan and Russell are especially interesting to watch in light of where their careers have taken them now. All in all, a pretty good shot, and recommended with reservations.

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