The Danger of Online Movies
17 year old Cami Winters (Tracy Spiridakos - Goblin) has fallen in love with Jake (Jon Cor - The Tenth Circle), a college freshman she has met online and has never met in real life although she plans to as soon as possible. The thing is that both have been lying as whilst Cami has pretended to be older than she is Jake hasn't told Cami than he is actually in prison for a robbery he took part in and is due out on parole in a couple of weeks.
To put it simply "The Boy She Met Online" is a movie of 3 parts with the first of those being the most interesting as this is the bit which covers the lying online. We watch as Cami chats and falls in love with a guy called Jake she meets online, believing his lies that he is at college whilst he believes she is 18 rather than 17. It is a good set up which could have lead to a really interesting movie focussing on the dangers of the internet, examining parental responsibility and the evil which lurks where things seem innocent. But it is wasted because whilst we discover Jake is in prison for his part in a robbery, and a little older than he suggests, he isn't too different to the profile he has online.
After this set up "The Boy She Met Online" evolves with Jake being released on parole and he and Cami start dating in secret, keeping their own lies going as well. But not only does the truth come out and Cami accepts that Jake is an ex con but the story evolves into something else and sadly something more routine. Basically "The Boy She Met Online" evolves into a story of how trying to go straight is difficult for Jake as no one will give him a second chance, his mum and sister don't want him living with them and he can't find a job. So of course temptation presents itself in the shape of Edgar, a criminal who takes him in and offers him work if he wants it.
And then "The Boy She Met Online" evolves again and whilst I won't tell you what happens in detail it won't come as a surprise if I tell you that Cami ends up in danger, as that is what usually happens in these movies. It is a real shame that "The Boy She Met Online" ended up becoming such a routine thriller about an ex con trying to go straight because the dangers of online relationships would have been much more interesting and worth while.
The change in story direction is not the only issue as it seems who ever was in charge of casting wanted good looking people and so that is what we get. From good guys such as Kendra, Cami's mum's friend, through to Edgar the actors all look too good looking to be believable. It also doesn't help that the acting is also a little over the top and the script often borders on the cheesy so when you have either the beautiful Tracy Spiridakos or Jon Cor delivering soap opera style dramatics as they deliver cheesy lines it veers towards being laughable.
What this all boils down to is that "The Boy She Met Online" is disappointing partly because of the acting and the lack of reality but more so because it turns what could have been a good movie end up something very ordinary. Basically don't be fooled by the title because "The Boy She Met Online" ends up being a routine thriller about an ex con struggling to go straight.
