Nerve

Filmmakers Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman's teen-oriented cyber-thriller centers on Venus “Vee” Delmonico (Emma Roberts), a timid senior living in Staten Island with her overprotective single mother (Juliette Lewis). Knowing about Vee's desire to have enough money to go to the California Institute of the Arts, her BFF Sydney (Emily Meade) introduces her to Nerve, a (fictional) money-making live-stream smartphone game of dares. Participants download an app, and then choose whether to be a Player or a Watcher. As voyeurs, Watchers suggest dares, and the riskier the dare, the more Watchers a Player will get—resulting in a bigger payout. Naïve Vee's first dare is to kiss a total stranger in public, who turns out to be Ian (Dave Franco). Considered a cute couple, they are paired up, and he happens to be a Player who is up for some daredevil challenges in Manhattan. Meanwhile, Vee's computer hacker buddy Tommy (Miles Heizer) and an increasingly jealous Sydney are observing from the sidelines with growing apprehension over the increasingly perilous stunts—such as riding a motorcycle while blindfolded. Adapted from Jeanne Ryan's 2012 YA novel and aimed at media-obsessed millennials, Nerve's late-in-coming caution about the sinister seductiveness of Internet surveillance is lost in the adrenaline-pumped stunts, and 25-year-old Roberts and 31-year-old Franco are simply too mature to pass as teens. Optional. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include “Creating Nerve” character pods (28 min.), “The Fat Jewish Gets Tattewish” outtakes (3 min.), “The Governor's Ball Takeover” social media skit (3 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray review are text player profiles, the “Are You a Watcher or a Player?” quiz, the “Do You Have the Nerve?” game, and bonus DVD, digital, and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a disappointing film.] (S. Granger)