Reviews

Apparently Mickey Rourke was attached to this at some point, and his part was taken by Michael Madsen. Throughout their respective careers, they've been pretty much interchangeable; in the first scene I saw with Mr. Madsen in this project, I actually wondered, "Isn't that Mickey Rourke?" Not to denigrate the talent of either actor, as they've each had illustrious careers.

At any rate, there isn't really much to this movie. I pretty much checked out after the father of Taye Diggs' character brutally killed a dog. There's really no reason to ever have such a depiction in a movie, and there's never any good that can actually come of it.

I really wanted to like this, but the main characters are just too self-centered and unlikeable to make it enjoyable. I hoped that they'd learn from their mistakes and be better people by the end, but that's not how it worked out. A strong young cast is wasted on this mess.

Miles (Charlie Plummer) enrolls in prep school and soon meets Alaska (a mesmerizing Kristine Froseth) and "The Colonel" (Denny Love). The Colonel and Alaska are friends, and scholarship students at the school. The Colonel condescends to anyone who doesn't like him (and, trust me, there's a lot not to like), and Alaska goes along with him happily, the two playing increasingly consequential pranks on their enemies.

These two characters draw shy, introspective Miles into their web, and soon enough Miles becomes as big of a jerk as his two new friends. Proof? Miles has been dating a sweet Romanian girl who's had a crush on him. With Alaska's encouragement, Miles and the girl finally have sex, and then -- on the very same night, mind you - Miles dumps her for questioning his loyalty to his horrible friends, and then he proceeds to sleep with Alaska. The same night! Who are these jerks, and why would anyone feel anything but contempt for them? The only member of the clique with any decency or common sense is Takumi (Jay Lee), who attempts and fails to talk sense into them.

Early on, Alaska is caught breaking school rules and has to "rat" on another couple to keep from being expelled. Her so-called friends, not surprisingly, turn on her initially, but finally take her back into their circle. And then - wait for it -- she continues to behave in ways that could get her expelled, even though returning home would supposedly be a horrible fate! And yet, there she is, boo-hooing over her terrible situation.

The Colonel, likewise, just can 't practice self-control. He's got a chip on his shoulder and won't let it go. Late in the series, he and the others perpetrate a prank that could have potentially damaged their enemies' college futures, an act that was, in fact, illegal and could have criminal consequences.

A witness saw The Colonel taking part in the prank; if he takes the fall and is expelled, his friends will be spared. Everyone in the clique took part in this act - including the unfortunate Lara (Sofia Vassilieva), the same girl who slept with Miles and was dumped by him literally hours later. But who does The Colonel blame for his situation? Alaska. And why does The Colonel say he's being singled out? Not because he's the only one who was actually seen taking part in the prank, but - again, wait for it - because he's on scholarship and is African American. Not because he broke the rules and committed a crime. That wasn't his fault, right?

All that said, the acting is very good, although the dialogue doesn't sound like it came from any teenagers I've ever known. It's not at all natural, and sounds scripted.

And in the end, the only likable characters in this seven hour long wreck are Takumi, Lara and "The Eagle" (Timothy Simons), the principal who's actually looking out for the kids' best interests.

The clique perpetrates one more prank at the end of the movie - to honor Alaska, naturally. It's really quite funny, but it's equally as unlikely as the dialogue these teenagers are spouting.

High school is ugly, no doubt, and teenagers can certainly be self-involved creeps. But why anyone would feel anything for the main three characters is beyond me.

Not familiar with the Marble Hornets web series, I took a chance on "Always Watching," not particularly expecting much. It's my personal opinion that probably 80 of horror flicks are just plain bad, but I was pleasantly surprised by this one, as the story is good, the acting commendable and directing very adept.

My main beef was that, like so many horror movies, the characters have this "we can't go to the cops, they'll never believe us" mentality. This is sorta explained away when one of the earlier victims went to law enforcement and was pretty much laughed out of the police station with his story. However, later in the movie, the three main characters have plenty of video evidence and still didn't seek help from the authorities. I think that if they had, the story still could've proceeded just fine, and the entire premise would've been more believable.

I'm more than willing to find more movies by this director