The Curve (1998 film)

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Dead Man's Curve (US title)
The Curve FilmPoster.jpeg
DVD cover
Directed byDan Rosen
Written byDan Rosen
Produced byMichael Amato
Jeremy Lew
Ted Schipper
Alain Siritzky
StarringMatthew Lillard
Michael Vartan
Keri Russell
CinematographyJoey Forsyte
Edited byGlenn Garland
Music byShark
Distributed byTrimark Pictures
Release date
January 23, 1998
Running time
91 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1,000,000

The Curve is a 1998 thriller film starring Matthew Lillard, Keri Russell and Michael Vartan,[1] which premiered at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival under its original title, Dead Man's Curve.[2] It draws on the urban legend that a student will receive only A+ letter grades should their roommate commit suicide (pass by catastrophe).

Plot[]

After hearing of a school policy granting anyone whose roommate commits suicide an automatic 4.0 GPA, Harvard Med School aspirants Chris (Michael Vartan) and Tim (Matthew Lillard) plot to kill their roommate Rand (Randall Batinkoff) and make it look like a suicide. They're successful, but when the fallout breeds unforeseen consequences and two local detectives close in, guilt and mistrust fester, jeopardizing Chris's relationship with his girlfriend Emma (Keri Russell) and the roommates' futures.

Cast[]

Production[]

The Curve was filmed at Elk Neck State Park and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and screened at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival as an Official Selection.[3] The film was renamed The Curve after its Sundance premiere to avoid confusion with the film Dead Man on Campus, a comedy with a similar pass by catastrophe premise about two college roommates who try to get another roommate to commit suicide which was released the same year. In the UK and Australia, however, the film was released as Dead Man's Curve.

Reception[]

The Curve was met with a mostly negative reception. It holds a score of 11% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes based on 9 reviews.[4] In a review for Variety, Dennis Harvey commented that "“Curve” bends too low for upscale auds, it’s also problematic for mainstream ones as a near-horror thriller sans onscreen violence (or genuinely surprising plot twists). It will take aggressive marketing to reap quick payoff on a film likely to get just lukewarm critical and word-of-mouth response."[2]

In a more favorable review from William Thomas of Empire rated the film 4/5 stars and stated that it has "boasting originality, an easy-going hipness and a disregard for convention, this represents all that's good about the American indie scene."[5]

Soundtrack[]

Prior to the start of filming, writer/director Dan Rosen and score composer Shark made a mixtape of songs they were considering for use in the film, which Rosen gave to the principal actors in The Curve to establish the film's tone. When editor Glenn Garland put together the first edit of the film, he used music from this mix tape as "temp music," and many of the songs ended up in the final film.

A song-based soundtrack album featuring songs from The Curve was released in Japan through Toho Records and in North America through Chromatic Records.

The North American album featured 14 tracks composed by Shark, an aria from the 1892 opera La Wally and the songs "Die" by Starbelly, "Bela Lugosi's Dead" by Bauhaus and "Wake Up Sad (remix)" by Wild Colonials.

References[]

  1. ^ Bhob Stewart (2007). "The Curve". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. Archived from the original on November 21, 2007.
  2. ^ a b Harvey, Dennis (January 25, 1998). "Dead Man's Curve". Variety. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  3. ^ "Dead Man's Curve". Sundance.org.
  4. ^ "Dead Man's Curve". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  5. ^ Thomas, William (January 1, 2000). "Dead Man's Curve Review". Empire. Retrieved July 5, 2021.

External links[]

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