Gossip is one of a spate of movies that owe a lot to Cruel Intentions. This time it's rich kids in college, but other than that Gossip stays well within the beautiful-young-people-doing-awful-things-to-each other formula. Lena Heady plays Jones, obviously the Smart Girl because she is briefly seen wearing glasses. Jones hangs out with Arty Guy Travis and Handsome Rich Guy Derrick, who finances their adventures and has a little bit of a lying habit. The three are all in the same journalism class (acidic monologist Eric Bogosian plays the acidic professor) and decide to start and track a rumor for their term papers. They pick rich and beautiful couple Beau and Naomi (Joshua Jackson and Kate Hudson) as the focus of the rumor, and before you know it their juicy story starts spinning out of control into ugly territory and a truly ludicrous climax. There are attempts at making sledgehammer points about the slippery task of finding Truth, but mostly Gossip is about the guilty pleasure of watching pretty young actors be mean to each other. You'll hate yourself in the morning, but watch it anyway. --Ali Davis

Average Customer Review: ( 56 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.

The young actors are pretty and some are talented, and the dialogue is not bad -- some of it is actually rather good. The sets are a bit much, imho -- one wonders just how plush Derek's trust fund is, after seeing the "undergrad apartment" which few dotcom lottery winners could afford to keep up. There's a relentless prettiness to most of the backdrops even when they're trying to look noir, but that can be forgiven in a film which is really more stage play than cinema. The cinematography is mostly effortless and unobtrusive; there are a couple of arty little touches, but it's not self-indulgent.

Supporting cast do their jobs reliably; the brief scene in a high school admin office (where "Jones" is pursuing her investigation) is nicely played all the way into the far background of the shot. Some of the young extras definitely seem to be trolling for work (it's just amazing how pretty everyone is in this universe!) but it's all in good fun.

Marsden does very well with the Ripleyesque protagonist. His Marvel Comics good looks and alarming glibness are quite convincing; I loathed "Derek" after only a few minutes, and enjoyed Marsden's enjoyment of the role. Actually I should confess, I watched the film only because I like Edward James Olmos and never miss a chance to see him even in a small part; but was pleasantly surprised -- enjoyed it far more than I expected to.

One thing I appreciated about the script was a minor surprise value. Not Derek's true nature -- it's evident from the git-go, so no surprises there; and we know that poor, bewildered Jones will indeed figure it out given time (if nasty Derek doesn't push her down a staircase first, of course). The surprise I rather liked was that the film threatens for a moment to turn into another poor-little-falsely-accused-fellow saga, a sort of Dinesh D'Souza flavoured backlash tract on the wickedness of ruining young men's lives by actually taking rape seriously. Just as one is saying Oh Gawd, spare us -- it lightly skips away from the brink of disaster and delivers a far more palatable (and imho useful) message. It may be rather slickly wrapped, and admittedly unoriginal; but the basic lesson (that liars and users are despicable no matter how handsome/rich/cool they are) is one the human race can always do with.

One thing that amused me considerably was the fluency, the articulate command of language which these "college students" converse and declaim. I work at a University, and the undergraduates with whom I come in daily contact seem to have vocabularies of less than 800 words, including a fairly rich, repetitive admixture of the short one that starts with F. I would very much like to think that films like this could revive an interest in being articulate, witty, and intelligent-sounding among undergraduate and high-school age people; I've become a bit weary of the fashion for sounding and acting illiterate and stupid.

Well, end of rant :-) I think this is a well-crafted, undemanding, fresh and shiny little work that may entertain people even a few years from now. It has a peculiar style and sparkle which oddly enough remind me of films of the late 30's and early 40's. I'd recommend it.

Someone should compile a good list of films about compulsive liars and charming sociopaths -- 'All About Eve' comes to mind, 'Ripley' of course, and 'Deathtrap' -- I think 'Gossip' would be worthy of inclusion. Timothy Dalton in 'Framed' would make the list, with an honourable mention for his youthful effort as the sinister young King of France in 'The Lion in Winter'.

7 of 8 found the following review helpful:

Not as smart as it wants to beNov 16, 2000
By Roger Ward
It's got a good premise: start a story and see how many people get a hold of it and how it changes before the truth comes out. It plays with the idea of yellow versus real journalism. I like that. Unfortunately, the execution is seriously flawed. We go through all of this twisty turny stuff that's telegraphed ahead of time and then gives a very unrealistic and unsatisfying conclusion to the whole thing. If you've got nothing else to do, watch it with some friends, but i guarantee that the conversation it provokes will be a lot more interesting than the film itself.

8 of 10 found the following review helpful:

GossipAug 25, 2001
By Jen
I had HBO on in the background when this movie came on and I never intended to watch it, I mean a movie called "Gossip"? Oh that really sounds like fun. But as soon as the pictures flashed across the screen and "Jones" [Lena Headey] started talking, I knew judging the movie by the title was a bad move on my part. The angles and colors, wardrobe, etc. of this film were amazing to me. I thought it was very well directed. The idea of the movie had started out well. Three college students planned to start a rumor and see how far it went as a topic to write on for a class. Though I thought casting Joshua Jackson to play any character in this flick was a bad, bad idea. The only reason I would think about labeling this a "teen flick" is the fact that he was in it. Toward the end, I thought they took reality way out of proportion, if I hadn't have liked the movie so well, it would have easily ruined the entire film. Though there are a lot of negitive comments for the movie, I'd give it a chance if you have the time.

4 of 5 found the following review helpful:

We do what we do then we gossip about it!Jan 10, 2001

Gossip is a killer movie. Just when I thought I had it figured out, I found out I didnt! Besides the extrodinary plot and awsome ensemble cast, Gossip finishes off much different then you would have expected! Which is what I like in a movie, unpredictability, suspense and action! I would recomend Gossip to anyone I knew, because I dont know of anyone who I made watch it, that didnt thoroughly enjoy it! For more of my reveiws and pics check out my site at http://trishnstephanie.tripod.com/stephaniessite/

19 of 27 found the following review helpful:

"Gossip" Movie ReviewSep 01, 2000
By Devon C. Adams
Gossip is a psychological thriller set in the stereo-typical urban university setting, with a not-so stereo-typical cast. Lena Headey and James Mardsen (Xmen) pair off, weaving intricate plot twisting action through the course of two hours. In her journalism class, Headey decides to begin a rumor about a couple, Kate Hudson (Almost Famous) and Joshau Jackson (Skulls) having sex at an after hours club. The gossip spreads rapidly, and when the rumor gets back to the girl she must decide if it really happened. The plot is well-developed, the casting is genuis and the setting is done well. The loft apartment shared by Mardsen, Headey and a third roommate will make the most artistic person jealous. This movie is NOT your usual college-slash em' two hour waste of film.

See all 56 customer reviews on Amazon.com