R.S.V.P.

R.S.V.P. was just released here on DVD and I picked it up at the movie store because it had Jason Mewes in it. I didn't know what to expect, I didn't even read the box cover! Though I stumbled upon a great find, the movie itself is worth the few bucks to rent. A real good cast as well of young actors and actresses who are trying to shine out and get noticed. The story is about "Nick" a guy who is obsessed with murder. His friends think he's a little strange, taking after his professor. Well his ex girl hooked up with his best buddy who comes from a very well off family. Nick acted like everything was all gravy and since it was his last night in town (literally!) he decides to throw him a party! And all of his friends are invited... only thing is, not everyone is going home in one piece!

This movie was by far the STUPIDEST, DUMBEST, MOST IDIOTIC movie that I have ever seen in my entire life. Nothing about it kept my attention, it was not suspensful, and overall- it was boring. Half the time, the words didn't match the actor's mouths. The music does not go along with the plot...in general, it was ludicrous- a leviathan. It is nothing but a vile feast of vulgarities and invectives, mixed with poor, underdeveloped actors. Some of the "victims" are shown being beaten or hit, but for some odd reason, they don't bleed..hmmm.. I would not recommend this movie to anyone, unless they like to watch tedious, moronic films. It messes with the mind. Stay away from this flop of a "movie," if you want to call it that.

R.S.V.P. compares itself to Alfred Hitchcock's "Rope" and Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians". I have never seen either, but I know of both of them and I would guess that R.S.V.P. could stand along side as a good thriller. I believed this movie would have been a mystery and it toys with that idea until the first murder occurs. There is no attempt to conceal the killer's identity but only to show the masterful ways he conceals the murder victims. The ending is close to being predictable. The movie hints at little things which will be unearthed sooner or later.

Nick Collier (Rick Otto) is the main character here and he is throwing a party for his best friend, Jimmy Franklin (Lucas Babin), who is leaving town. All of their best friends are invited and soon, after Jimmy fails to show up, begin wondering where he could be, assuming he is getting blitzed or at a local strip club or something.

Jason Mewes plays Terry, a stoner. Terry is really just a rehashed Jay from Kevin Smith's movies set in another environment. Strange, I'm still not tired of it, yet.

The beautiful Brandi Andres is the lead female character, Jordan. I thought her performance was quite good, better than most that are usually cast in this type of movie and I was semi-impressed. Also, worthy of a mention is Nora Zehetner, who had a small part as Leigh Franklin. Something about her screen presence caught my eye, similar to Natalie Portman in "Closer", although she does not stick around too long and is not nearly as sexual.

This is a good movie to see if you are roaming through your local video rental store and can not seem to make up your mind and have seen all the newest blockbusters. I was not disappointed. 7/10

It's a crime to compare this to anything that even resembles Hitchcock! Are you people out of your mind? This ought to be the most obvious and predictable thriller in the recent years.. A bunch of people regurgitating "witty" remarks all the time, and AT the same time hardly make up for entertainment in my book. And throwing Jason Mewes in there to act like a retarded Jay without Silent Bob (i guess that's the only role he can play) was the low of the lowest. And the ending..well..let's just all forget that the whole thing existed and live a better life.

As one of the commenters here noted, sundance is usually inundated with gritty depressing films. R.S.V.P. is certainly not one of those. The same person said there were many clues throughout the film that hint at the surprise ending. To say that there were "clues" is an understatement. At every juncture the film screamed its torpid theme.

The film alludes several times to an underrated hitchock flick called "rope". Despite the allusions, the film doesn't even come close to Rope's level of philosophy, morality, or thrills. Instead it borrows a couple ideas, mixes in a few of the cheesier elements of mediocre American thrillers (see "Scream") and comes out with absolute boredom.

There were a few elements that could have made this film great. The allusion to rope could have gone farther and actually translated the film into a modern adaptation. One element that has changed since the time of rope is the perceived value of "fame". The film touched on this, but didn't carry anything through. The thing that could have been done right was translating the fame into a postmodern context. The killer claims he wants fame, but he tries to setup the professor as the culprit for all the murders. This could have actually been an excellent concept if the film had decided to take into account the two realities it exists in, namely: The reality of the film, wherein the professor would take the blame, and secondly the reality of the film as watched by the audience, where the killer could find fame without cost. Indeed, this would have been a clever concept that perhaps would have carried this over into the intellectual genre. Instead, the director has his character act inconsistently and later claim that he wants to be pursued by the FBI "because it's part of the game". The result is that the killer comes off as an absolute idiot, which is unfortunate because our interest has been staked in him being clever enough to pull something entertaining off.

To go back to the comment that this film is so unlike the rest of sundance's depressing flicks, I'm going to have to disagree. This having passed for an intellectual thriller is several times more depressing than boys don't cry.