I'm not quite sure what to make of this movie. While it is true that pornography can be addictive for some people, do all those who view porn actually end up losing almost everything in their lives? Kelly "I know I'm beautiful but I want you to view me as a serious actress" Lynch plays the stereotypical Lifetime Network mother -- tough, but also sensitive and caring. Her son, played by Jeremy Sumpter, is an overachieving and somewhat naive, but overall good, All-American kid. His girlfriend is the typical, sweet "good girl".
Sumpter runs across some softcore porn on the Internet one evening (although, truth be told, it's more like what you'd see in a Victoria's Secret catalog), and instantly, he becomes fixated on a mystery girl by the name of Monica. A closer look reveals that Monica is a little flirt who also attends his school.
So, apparently, Sumpter becomes so addicted to Monica and a host of other "porn" websites that he loses the ability to be an all-conference swimmer, an A student, and all-around model citizen. Instead, he turns into a grade A perv who stays up all night using his Mom's credit card to surf adult sites. He also decides to start downloading sexy pics into a PDA before swim meets in order to "psych himself up".
Where this film really swerves off the road is when he decides to meet Monica in-person at her home while her parents are gone. She's a curvy tease with "I'm all yours" eyes and curly tresses; but when Sumpter decides that the real thing isn't as good as the fantasy, Monica spins off into some sort of Glenn Close/Fatal Attraction/"I'm not going to be ignored" diatribe. After chasing Sumpter out of the house, Monica goes in the bathroom and intentionally smashes her head. Does she do this because she was abused as a child when she didn't sexually perform? After all, she told Sumpter that she enjoyed "getting busy" in the room with pictures of all her relatives. Are they perhaps "watching her"? Whatever the situation is, Monica is damaged goods, and she convinces her other boyfriends (which seems to be the whole swim team), that Sumpter attacked her (which he didn't). The jocks show up and teach Sumpter a lesson, while Monica gets a glazed-over, schizy look on her face.
I won't reveal any further details, but it's hard to take much of this seriously. Oh, addiction is indeed serious, but when a typical teenage boy sees a pretty young thing on the Web, or in a magazine, does he automatically became a drooling, evil, oppressive male that is so often portrayed in these Lifetime movies? Then again, the "black widow" character of Monica is a strong wake-up call to males that just because a girl is a hottie, her heart and character may be seriously flawed, and you have to be careful of who you associate with. There are plenty of Monicas in the world who file false rape reports, and intentionally deceive and hurt people like Sumpter's character.
On a final note, some have said that this movie carries a "conservative" and "Christian" message. Actually, it's more of the opposite. As usual, most of the female characters are smart and strong and generally superior, while the male characters are dumb and weak, and need to be "rescued" by women. Conservative? Try liberal with feminist overtones throughout.
Sumpter runs across some softcore porn on the Internet one evening (although, truth be told, it's more like what you'd see in a Victoria's Secret catalog), and instantly, he becomes fixated on a mystery girl by the name of Monica. A closer look reveals that Monica is a little flirt who also attends his school.
So, apparently, Sumpter becomes so addicted to Monica and a host of other "porn" websites that he loses the ability to be an all-conference swimmer, an A student, and all-around model citizen. Instead, he turns into a grade A perv who stays up all night using his Mom's credit card to surf adult sites. He also decides to start downloading sexy pics into a PDA before swim meets in order to "psych himself up".
Where this film really swerves off the road is when he decides to meet Monica in-person at her home while her parents are gone. She's a curvy tease with "I'm all yours" eyes and curly tresses; but when Sumpter decides that the real thing isn't as good as the fantasy, Monica spins off into some sort of Glenn Close/Fatal Attraction/"I'm not going to be ignored" diatribe. After chasing Sumpter out of the house, Monica goes in the bathroom and intentionally smashes her head. Does she do this because she was abused as a child when she didn't sexually perform? After all, she told Sumpter that she enjoyed "getting busy" in the room with pictures of all her relatives. Are they perhaps "watching her"? Whatever the situation is, Monica is damaged goods, and she convinces her other boyfriends (which seems to be the whole swim team), that Sumpter attacked her (which he didn't). The jocks show up and teach Sumpter a lesson, while Monica gets a glazed-over, schizy look on her face.
I won't reveal any further details, but it's hard to take much of this seriously. Oh, addiction is indeed serious, but when a typical teenage boy sees a pretty young thing on the Web, or in a magazine, does he automatically became a drooling, evil, oppressive male that is so often portrayed in these Lifetime movies? Then again, the "black widow" character of Monica is a strong wake-up call to males that just because a girl is a hottie, her heart and character may be seriously flawed, and you have to be careful of who you associate with. There are plenty of Monicas in the world who file false rape reports, and intentionally deceive and hurt people like Sumpter's character.
On a final note, some have said that this movie carries a "conservative" and "Christian" message. Actually, it's more of the opposite. As usual, most of the female characters are smart and strong and generally superior, while the male characters are dumb and weak, and need to be "rescued" by women. Conservative? Try liberal with feminist overtones throughout.