Reckless Behavior: Caught on Tape

Emma is a second-grade (or third-grade, depending on which character you believe) teacher in Minneapolis. She is fresh out of college and her methods are unconventional, but effective. Nevertheless, the establishment doesn't like change.

Emma's boyfriend David is a firefighter in Prairie, four hours away, where Emma's father and sister still live (her mother is deceased). It's a small enough town to be called a small town, and yet it has a professional fire department.

Emma's friends Lorraine and Stephanie want to go to Spring Break in San Diego. Emma wants to go camping with David, but those plans fall through, so it's off to Mitner's Cove, where everyone is having a wild time. Lots of bikinis, dancing, partying.

The girls meet Greg, who has a cameraman who would like to film their adventures. ALL of them. And just in case they don't do anything sleazy enough (trust me, though, most of what they do without drugs looks bad in certain contexts), Greg has a drug he can use. The girls' behavior seems innocent enough, though they do take off their bikini tops. For the benefit of those watching on broadcast TV, breasts are either facing away from the camera, or they are behind other bodies. That's okay. These girls have already looked plenty hot. And then there's Emma's impression of Meg Ryan in "When Harry Met Sally", which of course Meg did much better. Emma's not bad.

Emma goes home to find David doesn't like her new attitude, and their relationship is in trouble.

She does win an award for her teaching. The kids do like her a lot, though we don't really see much from them (probably just as well; that might attract kids too young to see this movie).

And then word gets out about the hot new porn video. Emma's job, her relationship with David, her father's printing business ... not to mention the pervert who stalks her.

The ending isn't what one might expect, but cleverly written and well performed by Odette Yustman. Somehow it still satisfies.

The main point of this movie: don't do anything you wouldn't want seen on the Internet or on video. And for goodness sakes, don't do it when a camera is around. The law will not protect you ... or will it? I don't want to give too much away, but Professor Richardson and the lawyer she contacted both do a good job of explaining why it's pointless to even try to get justice. With time running out.

Odette Yustman is quite pretty with clothes on (with sunglasses she reminded me of Sandra Bullock), and really hot looking in a bikini. She's not that good an actress, but she's not bad.

The actor playing the porn distributor has a good but brief performance. Not quite what I would have expected.

Another standout performance, very brief, comes from the fat woman cleaning up the beach ... after.

The second graders (or third graders, depending on who you believe) who appeared in the movie should not watch it until they get much older. They wouldn't believe what their teacher was doing with David! It's actually worse than anything she did in Mitner's Cove.

The movie is not sleazy. Once Spring Break is over, it's about a woman who has to learn to be strong to overcome adversity. Notice I said learn to be strong. Emma takes a while. But she gets there.

It's entertaining enough.

Comments that blame the victim are exactly what the film was preaching against. No, this is no Academy Award-winning film. It didn't win any critics' award, or Sundance, or Golden Globe, but it has a point. Many people are hypocrites and they will find it difficult to find in favor of women who show any sexuality. To the poster who dismissed the girl because she took a drink from a stranger--imagine your daughter forgetting that rule for one moment--here are two quotes for you to chew on: Hell is the theological equivalent of "Boy are you gonna get it when your dad gets home!" - Jack Carlson The infliction of cruelty with a good conscience is a delight to moralists--that is why they invented hell. - Bertrand Russell

The movie raises good questions. With the level of technology we have today and the number of fake sex tapes out there, can anyone be blamed if one pops up? Does anyone have a right to add anything to what you permitted them to film? Do they even ask permission to film? And what is your recourse if a tape actually damages YOUR reputation? I agree Emma made some stupid choices, but she should have been able to get protection from the law. Not from boob flashing, no, but from a non-permitted taping of this being turned into a hardcore XXX. To all who intend to blame Emma, imagine someone drugging your daughter and doing the same to her. How would you react? If mine said she'd never done it and proved it to me like Emma, I would be this close to finding the bastard who made it and taking him out when it's dark and no one can see. Say you interview for a job where reputation is important. Someone could film you walking at the beach and erase swimwear, then YouTube the video and send a link to your interviewer saying you are a devoted nudist, which may be viewed as improper. By the time you sort things out, position is filled, time is lost. Is it fair? Think before you blame Emma saying "she had it coming". What's a girl to do these days, not come out the door for fear that she might get her reputation damaged the way I just described and it's her fault no matter what?

This, however, is where the good stuff ends. The story falls flat at the end. What could be easier than setting up a microphone in that bra and taping the distributor, the tape maker and his rape threats. Note: This is admissible evidence without warning the other side because it is a criminal matter. If I were serious about getting these people I would have used every trick to get them, microphones, tiny camera in a purse, whatever. My sympathy for Emma ended where a seemingly intelligent girl (and her family) became completely stupid and did zero to gather any evidence, even though they easily could. The end was frustrating and lame.

To sum up, this movie did not impress me. Good start, coughed and died.

I would give this turkey 2*, because it does have the capability of enabling a viewer to recall some of those words we seldom use on a day-to-day basis, but which have a place in our vocabulary:

VACUOUS - Stupid; senseless. INSIPID - Tasteless; dull. MORONIC - Foolish; stupid. VAPID - (also...) Tateless; dull.

We could add several others, but these pretty-well sum-up all which is necessary to describe this flick.

I caught this on a Friday mid-day, with a friend who wanted to continue viewing it more than I - but I was frankly fascinated also by its awfulness..

I'd rather have Forrest Gump or Goober from Mayberry teaching a child of mine than the airhead lead actress here. Even when she supposedly was being serious in her effort and being lauded by her superiors, there wan't anything in her persona to evoke the least bit of empathy or interest - zilch! I'm sure the writers/producer/director intended her fiancé to be portrayed a "hunk" -- try "nerd" instead, and see definitions above.

The guys who perpetrated the supposedly scandalous tape, and who I'm sure the director intended to be nefarious and clever, were as idiotic as the rest of the cast, about as believable,

The group of guys and gals in "Porky's" portrayed characters who seemed "deep" compared with those here -- and their performances were closer those one might expect, say, from Brando, Olivier and Bette Davis by comparison.

As far as the ending and all of the scenes following "spring break," who-in-the-hell could possibly give a tinker's damn??

The most interesting thing I have from this film, and the only thing which provides anything worth subsequent discussion is this (and I feel provides a somewhat interesting dilemma).

Which was worse? The lead actress' performance on the video tape where she was faking an orgasm for the others on vacation, or her actual performance in this opus?

Watching Reckless Behavior: Caught On Tape the only thing I was thinking is that here's two hours I'll never get back. I stuck with it so I could write this review and warn others to beware.

Odette Yustman plays a bright young grade school teacher in a small town enthusiastic about her job and eagerly awaiting marriage to a local guy. When spring break comes this small town girl from the mid-west goes to San Diego where she and friends meet up with Antonio Sabato, Jr. and his friends. A little drinking, a little encouragement and she has her spring fling.

But that's hardly the end of it. Odette winds up on a porn tape making the rounds of the internet and the old scarlet letter gets pinned on her. The rest of the film is spent on her search for justice and vindication.

If you're that interested to see if she gets it you could watch the film. Frankly, I wouldn't bother again, not even for Antonio Sabato, Jr. who's still quite the sex symbol. The ending is mind bogglingly stupid to say the least.

It's an awful story with wooden performances by players who really couldn't create any believability. Given the script that would have been hard for Larry Olivier.