L'amour à la dérive

If you're a fan of Amanda Bynes you might enjoy this just because she's in it playing her usual role, but otherwise, this movie is pretty awful.

The main character Jenny is supposed to be a smart, soon-to-be pre-med student who is looking for love while working a summer job on a tropical resort. Notice I say "supposed to be" as although they talk about her being brilliant throughout the movie, she is actually made out to be quite an idiot. She is obsessed with a famous rock star and is constantly drooling over him, and seriously considers being with him in a long term relationship even though she has never met him. Sure Amanda Bynes is cute and can be funny, but she comes across as a bit pathetic in this one.

The movie is also filled with cliché characters, which makes it a bore, and it's very predictable from the moment it starts. There are no surprises here. You have the cute best friend with a crush on Jenny, the typical mean girl enemy (who happens to be everywhere she is), the rock star's stuck up agent with a British accent and weird hair, the black friend who's a player, an unsympathetic boss, the whole works.

Now other than the characters seeming more desperate than funny, there isn't anything else horribly wrong with the movie, but it definitely falls flat and isn't all that enjoyable. But there is nothing offensive about it, it is cutesy and clean, so if you're really bored and are into teen girl rom-coms or you like Bynes, it may be worth a one time watch. If you like more substance to a movie as far as plot, characters, or humor, you will probably want to skip this one.

My friend CK asked me to go along for this movie, as he's a huge Amanda Bynes fan, having followed her television series What I Like About You, and both of us agreed upon her comic potential in She's The Man, which was a pretty fun gender bender movie.

With a title like that, there's nothing too cerebral about Lovewrecked. No, it's not a doomed spoof of the Love Boat, but the teenage romance here is quite as cheesy and predictable. Bynes stars as Jenny Riley, and we're quickly introduced to her character's idol worshipping of screen pop singing sensation Jason Masters (Chris Carmack), going totally bonkers during his concert, much to the detriment of best buddy Ryan (Jonathan Bennett).

During their summer job at a Caribbean resort, she finds herself caught in a man-overboard situation with Jason, and the two of them thus began a Robinson Crusoe life - until of course Jenny discovers that they aren't really shipwrecked on some remote island at all, and keeps this as a secret from Jason. When her love rival participates in her little charade, it becomes like the reality TV series Survivor, where each have to outplay, outwit and outlast the other in order to get the affections of the lone pop star.

Directed by Randal Kleiser of Grease and The Blue Lagoon fame, this movie too had Bynes strut around mostly in bikinis, the apparel of choice for any girl working at a resort / stuck in a desert island. Bynes still haven't lost her comic timing, however here she's let down by an extremely weak story, and an even more disappointing lack of laughs from the stilted comedy. There are comedic situations which either make you laugh, or make you laugh from how bad it is. Sadly Lovewrecked had more of the latter, and for one scene, had to rely on the toilet humour favourite of the fart sequence.

As for the other characters, they're basically all one dimensional. The catty love rival, the handsome scheming nice-on-outside-unethical-on-inside pop star, the pining buddy, the mean resort manager, the horny colleague, the arrogant star assistants and minders, the list goes on. The Riley parents were such throwaway characters that you wonder if their inclusion was for the sake of extending the run time, which clocks in at a short 86 minutes.

So unless you're a true blue Bynes fan, or have that penchant for teenage romance movies, do steer clear or you'll find yourself getting pretty bored at predictability.

Well, before I watched this movie, I'll admit I didn't have very high hopes for this "feature presentation" just by looking at the cover. But, I will also admit that if you come into this movie not expecting much, then you will enjoy it much more than if you expect a Academy Award out of this flick. There's nothing really wrong with this movie, it's pretty much about these kids on a tropical island paradise with rock star "hunk": Jason Masters. Jenny Taylor (Amanda Bynes) and this other girl come up with many wild and ridiculous schemes to win over Jason Masters. The jokes in this movie along with what they say can be pretty stupid, but that's why its an entertaining movie, because you just laugh at how dumb it gets in some parts. This movie hits the pinnacle of dumbness when Jason Masters states very eloquently to Jenny that, "You rock me babe, you rock me two times around the world."....What???? Must I say more? Well, overall, if you and your buddies want to entertain yourselves, and have a few good laughs, I would recommend this movie to you. But, if you're looking for a work of art that will change your perspective on the world, this movie will never satisfy your needs.

Jenny Taylor (Amanda Bynes) is a rabid fan of rock star Jason Masters (Chris Carmack). Alexis (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) is her ever present nemesis. Her best friend Ryan (Jonathan Bennett) is secretly in love with her. She and Ryan go to work at Masters' favorite Caribean resort. The jaded Masters later arrives at the resort with his entourage. Masters falls overboard on a yacht and he's rescued by Jenny. Nobody else notices and the two are stranded on an isolated beach. Jenny discovers that they landed close to the resort but she hides it from Masters. Ryan is convinced to help her in her ruse. Alexis follows Ryan and competes with Jenny while joining in on the ruse.

This is a silly teen comedy. It tries to be a little sexy with Amanda in her bikini. I actually don't mind the Blue Lagoon start. It has some possibilities but it gets too convoluted and too silly. Jamie-Lynn Sigler is not helping anything. Amanda is still a charming performer at the time but this is not good.

I wouldn't say this movie changed my life or anything, but it was very cute and romantic. I also enjoyed seeing "Carlton" from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. I think that this is the first time I've seen him in something other than that show. Amanda Bynes is absolutely adorable in this film. She is slowly becoming one of my favorite young actresses. Jamie-Lynn Sigler is great as well. This movie had a "Disney Channel" feel to it. I thought it was like something that you would see that would have the tag "Disney Channel Original movie." However, the movie was entertaining and I really did enjoy it. I would recommend it to anyone who was in the market for a sweet lighthearted film.