Pop singer Nick Jonas goes the kiddie noir route in this teeny-bopper mashup of Body Heat and Double Indemnity in which he plays Doug Martin, a shy, studious high school kid who is seduced by Lena (Isabel Lucas), the sultry young trophy wife of a gruff financier (Dermot Mulroney) who buys the place next to Doug's family's lakeside summer house and then hires the boy to refurbish his classic yacht. Of course, all is not as it seems, and soon poor Doug is drawn into helping Lena extricate herself from a terrible situation. But Doug's involvement only winds up endangering his own future after Lena proves to be a less than innocent victim and both the local sheriff (Paul Sorvino) and an inquisitive insurance investigator (Kandyse McClure) begin looking into things. Where all of this is headed is pretty obvious, although the script does throw in a final twist that might come as a surprise. Careful What You Wish For feels like a Lifetime channel movie with a bit more skin, but even with a modest running-time it tends to plod, especially since Jonas is so inexpressive and Lucas prefers posing to acting. Veterans Sorvino and Mulroney manage some juicily hammy moments, but even their scenery-chewing doesn't compensate for the blandness at the center of filmmaker Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum's contemporary noir, which only invites comparisons to much better models. Not a necessary purchase. (F. Swietek)
Careful What You Wish For
Starz, 91 min., R, DVD: $22.99, Aug. 2 Volume 31, Issue 4
Careful What You Wish For
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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