Love Wrecked (2005) Reviews

• A Nutshell Review: Lovewrecked

  DICK STEEL2006-08-25

  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.

• I gave it a chance.

  Blueghost2009-11-27

  I saw the updated Shakespeare/de-Vere play "She's the Man", and saw the trailer for this flick. I'd been wanting to rent it at Blockbuster because it looked like it might be worth a chuckle or two. So there I am in the local Safeway, buying some cereal and milk when I spot the "Love Wrecked" DVD on the impulse rack for three bucks. I'm thinking there's a reason it's $3 (American), but I'm also thinking "Meh, how bad could it be?" I mean, it's got to have at least a couple laughs in it, right? Right? Err... I grinned here and there, but, well, maybe it's just the dude in me, I'm not sure, because I really like the romantic comedy genre, but this film seemed to fall a little flat. The direction was okay. It could have been better, but it is what it is. The acting for the genre is actually fine. But the story premise wasn't played out to its fullest. I mean, this had the potential to be a really hilarious film, but the gags and story just seemed to plod along from one superficial "chicks fighting over dude" joke to the next. I don't know. Maybe I'm being too unfair to the film. I'm not sure I could've done a better job with the script at hand. Then again, I probably wouldn't do any worse. At least I only paid a few bucks for a copy. If you must watch it, borrow it from a friend, or check out the libraries copy.

• Teenwrecked!

  eaw1990osaka2007-03-05

  I'm not a total teen movie, chick flick freak or anything...but I watched this movie and must admit that it wasn't anything offensive. And frankly, I find most teen movies and chick flicks do offend me. So this was quite a surprise. I liked Amanda in "She's the man!", thought that she did a decent job, and she seams to have no shame in making a fool out of herself in this movie. If you're looking for something very light and with nothing bad in it, then this might be a good movie to see once (as I'm so used to intense, sad and depressing pictures set in cold, dark, Eastern European castles where vampires are always popping up). Jenny is a bookish girl from Massechusetts, about to enter into medical school, right after she finishes her summer school job program (along with her best of friends', Ryan). Set in a romantic Caribbean, paradise like resort, that is where she and Ryan are to spend the rest of their summer working at the Hotel. Although, suddenly something disturbs what should have been the best time for Ryan to make a move on Jenny (because he's always had a crush on her since they were kids), when a Rock star comes to stay at the Hotel for 2 days on a layover to one of his other gigs. Jenny has been waiting to be swept off of her feet by a man all of her teen life, and she's been fantasizing over this Rock star meeting her and somehow loving her that whole time. Realising that this might be her last chance in the world to get this kind of opportunity: She stows away pretending to be a waitress on one of the Hotels' private boats which Mr.Rock star will be dinning in that night. Just then a storm hits the island, somehow her and Mr.Rock star end up in a life boat together. They wake up the next morning and find that they are marooned. Jenny realizes that this could be the perfect chance to make the man of her dreams realize he "loves" her... Meanwhile, back at the resort, Jenny's worst enemy is working hard to find out her secret and destroy her... Yes, other people have been complaining that this movie is too predictable. But on the other hand, there's nothing wrong with a little bit of light-hearted humor, plus an innocent, nice guy getting the girl in the end.

• Pretty lame, but harmless

  dashielle89-425-1321812013-05-06

  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.

• I thought it was pretty good, cute

  danstra2006-04-23

  I saw it at the 1st Annual Dominican Republic Int'l Film Festival at the Sun Village Resort in Puerto Plata (as already stated, this is the location where it was filmed). I thought it was pretty good. The version they showed us was still in a rough cut stage. It is most definitely a movie for fans of Amanda. I'm not a big fan but I like her acting style and her "cuteness factor." I would recommend the movie to anyone looking for a light hearted youthful sort of teeny-Hopper movie. As for the filming location, I would recommend Sun Village to anyone looking for a great Caribbean Vacation. :) Best, Dan