''Dare'' is a 2009 American
romantic drama film directed by
Adam Salky and written by
David Brind.
The film is based on Salky's 2005 short film which was met with acclaim at film festivals. The feature-length version, which premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival, stars
Emmy Rossum
Emmanuelle Grey Rossum (born September 12, 1986) is an American actress, director, and singer. She is known for her portrayal of Fiona Gallagher in the television series '' Shameless'' (2011–2019). Since the mid-2010s, she has also directed ...
in a story about how "three very different teenagers discover that, even in the safe world of a suburban prep school, no one is who she or he appears to be." The film has been described as a cross between ''
Pretty in Pink
''Pretty in Pink'' is a 1986 American teen romantic comedy-drama film about love and social cliques in American high schools in the 1980s. A cult classic, it is commonly identified as a "Brat Pack" film. It was directed by Howard Deutch, produc ...
'' and ''
Cruel Intentions
''Cruel Intentions'' is a 1999 American teen romantic drama film written and directed by Roger Kumble and starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, and Selma Blair. The film is a modern retelling of Pierre Choderlos d ...
''.
Cast
Production
In 2003, David Brind and Adam Salky were classmates in the Graduate Film Program at Columbia University in New York. Their first-year assignment was to pair up to create an 8–12 minute short film—the caveat being that one could not direct one's own script. Adam took his own personal dare when he went out of his comfort zone to take on David's story of two very different high school boys who come unexpectedly together one night in a confluence of champagne, a swimming pool and adolescent bravado. The short film starred
Michael Cassidy as Johnny and Adam Fleming as Ben and took a successful run in many film festivals in 2005.
Reception
, the film holds a 57% approval rating on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, based on 21 reviews with an average rating of 5.26/10.
''Dare'' was listed as one of the "best films of 2009" in ''
Newsday'' by movie critic Rafer Guzman. He wrote, "This little-seen movie stars Ashley Springer, Emmy Rossum and Zach Gilford - all delivering top-notch performances - as three high-schoolers whose wobbly psyches collide. One of the smartest and most honest teen movies in years."
A.O. Scott of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' wrote, "''Dare'', written by
David Brind, directed by
Adam Salky and based on their short film of the same title, stakes out familiar territory and, true to its name, strikes out in some risky new directions. This high school semi-romance, which blends comic and tearful moods, is at once more provocative and more contemplative than most of its big-screen counterparts."
James Greenberg of ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...
'' wrote, "''Dare'', a smart and well-observed entry in the genre, is a cut above the usual hijinks. What elevates ''Dare'' above the usual high school fare is the quality of the writing by
David Brind, crisp direction by
Adam Salky and a uniformly attractive and compelling cast led by the delightful Emmy Rossum"
Gerrick Kennedy of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' wrote, "With its dark, hyper-sexualization of teens, it offers an engrossing if not soap opera-esque tale of self-discovery."
Stina Chyn of
Film Threat gave ''Dare'' four stars, writing, "What might otherwise be an exercise in ordinary adolescent stories turns powerfully intimate through the wonderful performances that Salky coaxes out from the cast."
Owen Gleiberman of ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
'' wrote, "''Dare'', a sweetly sexed-up high school triangle movie, is like a John Hughes comedy trying to pass itself off as transgressive" and gave it a C+ rating.
Emmy Rossum won the Young Hollywood Award at the
Savannah Film Festival, because of her acting performance in ''Dare''.
Sequel
In 2017, David Brind and Adam Salky started a
Kickstarter campaign for a sequel to the original short film, with Cassidy and Fleming reprising their roles. Launching the campaign in August, asking for $30,000, by September the film had been backed by over 200 backers and resulted in a total funding of approximately $32,000. Filming began on December 22, 2017 in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, with the film wrapping on December 26, 2017.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dare
2009 films
2009 independent films
2009 LGBT-related films
2009 romantic drama films
2000s teen drama films
2000s teen romance films
American independent films
American romantic drama films
American teen drama films
American teen romance films
Features based on short films
Films set in Philadelphia
Gay-related films
Male bisexuality in film
2000s English-language films
Films directed by Adam Salky
2000s American films