Tangled Movie Review

Hey, it's the first lame direct-to-DVD movie of 2003!

Tangled purports to describe the complicated love triangle among three college kids: She's All That hottie Rachael Leigh Cook, mysterious Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, and slack-jawed yokel Shawn Hatosy (Outside Providence). Tough choices all around, for sure.

What follows is the stuff out of countless teen-ish dramadies, inspired by Cruel Intentions but lacking any of its cleverness. It comes off as more of an also-ran to Gossip, another trashy and totally pointless revenge fantasy. The plot of Tangled turns on Rhys-Meyers' character, who toys with the other two by setting them up for a fall time and time again. Why do they keep him around? Good question. Probably because we wouldn't get to the shocking surprise ending if they didn't.

This ending is hinted at via music-video-style flashbacks throughout the film. Apparently some hideous crime is going to occur and the cops (including Lorraine Bracco(!)) are trying to figure out who did what -- who's victim and who's victimizer? Sadly, this sounds much more interesting than it actually is, because the film's lame acting, pointless story, meandering plot, and tired dialogue show that, in the end, the real victim is the audience.