Lovewrecked

May 18 2007 By The Journal

"What do you do when all your dreams come true?" wonders the heroine in Lovewrecked, regurgitating the same words spouted by countless other smitten teenage protagonists. Answer: you eventually realise that the handsome best friend, who has held a torch for you since childhood, is actually Mr Right.

Jenny Taylor (Bynes) is infatuated with rock musician Jason Masters (Carmack), much to the frustration of her sensitive best friend, Ryan (Bennett).

Landing a summer job at the Sun Village Beach Resort, Jenny and Ryan look forward to three months of fun, only to run into sworn rival Alexis (DiScala), who is also employed at the resort. Luck comes Jenny's way when Jason and his entourage check into the resort.

During a stormy moonlit cruise, Jason falls overboard, Jenny leaps in to rescue him and the pair become stranded on a desert island.

Jenny soon surmises that the "island" is actually the resort's hidden beach. However, she is so desperate to make Jason fall in love with her, she continues the charade.

Then Alexis discovers the ruse and decides she wants to be "shipwrecked" too.

Verdict: Lovewrecked makes ample use of the sun-kissed Caribbean locales to ensure the characters spend most of the film in bikinis and shorts, looking tanned and impossibly lithe.

How any of them is single is a mystery.

Bynes alternates between doe-eyed and zany and tongue-tied, playing her heroine like the quintessential teenage fan, down to screaming like a deranged harpy at a Masters concert in the opening sequence.

Bennett smiles sweetly and ensures his sidekick turns out to be even more perfect than Jason, declaring, "I can't hold a candle to a pop star" before Jenny realises the error of her ways, though sadly without a deserved slap from one of the resort's performing sea lions.