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Ryan (Jonathan Bennett) and
Jennifer (Amanda Bynes) have been friends for so long. Ryan has a secret special feeling for Jennifer but she is head over heels "in love" with rock star Jason Masters
(Chris Carmack). Ryan and Jennifer are preparing to work the summer off as waiter and lifeguard respectively at a French-run resort at the Caribbean, and in fact would be
roommates, with the full blessings of her parents who trust Ryan that much. At the beach hotel, Jennifer learns Jason Masters would be arriving for a concert.
Delirious with rock-star-fan mania, she manages to get assigned as waitress in the welcome party for Jason on board a yacht. The sea gets rough, Jason gets sea sick and is thrown overboard. With presence of mind, Jennifer tosses an inflatable raft to the gasping Jason, and then dives after him. The boat goes off, leaving them floating at midsea. The next morning they wake up realizing they're marooned.
The fast-paced story keeps the viewer hanging on even if it's obvious this kind of thing happens
only in the movies.
The cast is just right, with each character seeming tailor-made for the role: Bynes as the pretty but not sensual girl-next-door going ga-ga over a dream; Carmack as the egoistic rock star so used to seeing girls fight over him; Bennett as the subdued and dependable male friend with a quiet charm; and Jamie-Lynn Discala as the drooling seductress who do anything short of murder to get her hands on the man of her dreams.
Not all is well that ends well, especially if you believe that the end does not justify the means.
Right? Sometimes, yes. Although Love Wrecked appears harmless—the story being garden-variety star-craze and the lead female character being a smart, sensible girl
who is otherwise virtuous outside of her adolescent licentiousness.
Just to prolong her alone-time with her dream man on the island, she keeps him believing they're marooned on an island when in fact they're just three miles off the resort hotel. He doesn't know any better, being disabled by a broken ankle. But soon enough she sees that lies are never white; lies beget lies, and at the final countdown she sees the consequences of her "harmless" maneuvers. In the end she wisens up and fights for her real values—honesty especially before the public, abiding friendship, respect for self and others. This ending redeems the film and makes the viewer understand that the foibles of teen years somehow vanish when wholesome, deep-seated values come to the fore.
(Date Reviewed: 07 July 2006)
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