Content Starts Here
The Skulls film review
THE SKULLS
Running time: 106 mins
Starring: Joshua Jackson, Paul Walker, Hill Harper, Leslie Bibb, Christopher McDonald, Steve Harris, William Petersen, Craig T Nelson
Luke McNamara (Joshua Jackson) is a spirited Mr Nice Guy who has scrimped and borrowed his way into one of the best Ivy League colleges in New Haven to study law.
Despite good grades and sporting success with the school's varsity rowing team, Luke knows he won't land a place in a top law school without recommendations from prominent alumni and lots of money, neither of which are at his disposal.
When a highly selective society known as The Skulls invites him to join, Luke ignores his moral compass and steps boldly forward, aware that involvement can guarantee him the connections to make it to law school, and the finances to stand a chance of winning the approval of dream girl Chloe (Leslie Bibb) and her upper crust family.
Following a bizarre initiation test, Luke is welcomed into the exclusive world of The Skulls, and assigned a "soulmate", Caleb Mandrake (Paul Walker), who will act as a surrogate brother, supporting him in times of trouble. Just as it seems that Luke's life is moving in the right direction, his room-mate Will (Hill Harper) commits suicide in suspicious circumstances.
Luke refuses to believe that Will would take his own life, and confronts the possibility of foul play. Security camera footage points the finger of blame at The Skulls, but as Luke attempts to learn the truth about Will's death, so he comes to realise just how powerful the brotherhood is, and how far it will go to protect its identity.
Put 10 chimpanzees in a room with typewriters and reams of paper, and the work they churn out would be substantially more intelligent, coherent and complex than Rob Cohen's stinker of a teen thriller.
It's difficult to put into words quite how bad The Skulls is. The premise is pure bargain bin hokum and just keeps getting more ludicrous by the second. The Skulls is meant to be a secret society yet the brotherhood's headquarters is a grandiose building distinguished by a rather large skull on the wall.
Will's killer just happens to have been foolish enough to be caught on security camera, and when Luke and Chloe find themselves on the run from the brotherhood, presumably fearful for their lives, they decide then would be a jolly good time for a bathroom frolic.
Jackson essentially recycles his lovable Dawson's Creek persona, essaying a kind-hearted Everyman who has to fight tooth and nail to keep his dreams alive. His chemistry with fresh-faced Bibb is barely lukewarm and their one sex scene is shrouded in so much steam, you can barely tell whether both actors are present, let alone whether either is excited.
Bibb has little to do other than to smiling adoringly at camera, while Walker plays heavily on his pretty boy looks, spending every other scene with his shirt off.
More experienced cast members like Craig T Nelson and William Petersen chew scenery as if they haven't eaten for a week. Pity they didn't chow down on the script before Cohen had a chance to call "action!".
Font size
Mail
My account
Help
Community
Print now
Send to a friend
Related articles
Related products
