Gossip

As an experiment for a communications class, three college students (James Marsden, Lena Headey, Norman Reedus), start an idle rumor about an acquaintance. When the rumor spirals out of control and threatens to destroy innocent lives, hidden agendas begin to emerge. Slick, shallow and casually vicious, the film is unconvincing in every detail, from the huge warehouse loft where the three live to the absurd twist ending that comes out of nowhere. It’s directed by Davis Guggenheim to resemble a music video or a commercial for some trendy brand of liquor, and it does have a kind of sinister energy to it—which may be all Guggenheim was shooting for in the first place. The cast includes Kate Hudson and Joshua Jackson as the victims of the gossip, and Eric Bogosian and Edward James Olmos as token adults.