It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Intriguing to consider that Lena Headey, Joshua Jackson, Norman Reedus and James Marsden were pretty much unknown to me (as I guess to many of us) back around 2000 when I first watched this entertaining film; and Kate Hudson hardly known. And then here we are in 2016, catching the same film again, and it does change the perspective.But overall what sums this piece up is the word "edgy". There's a slightly specific triangle of room-mates, albeit with the word "room" taken to indicate about half an acre of space. They are not unlikeable and close, very close, though also part of a wider circle of students characterised by that uneasy mix of determined maturity and actual immaturity, plus a deliberate desire to live on the edge, that seems to be the hallmark of students everywhere.Ultimately our three main characters seem more than willing to do the dirty on each other. In the meantime, they (together) decide to see how far they can get with a piece of gossip, and the answer is very far indeed. And on the way, we learn what whole sections of society (artists, psychiatrists, economists, politicians, special advisers and so on) have known for years - that big lies are more easily believed than small ones, and that the truth is what the majority believe it to be.These awful realities are made manifest in a host of different, pretty clever ways as the film develops, and even the wrap-up-the-story sting in the tail cannot really erase the "truth" of that, if you'll pardon the iteration; though it is admittedly hard for the average viewer (like me) to work out just how far back through the film what we might call "the counter-offensive" actually goes.In any case, this is a film with a point to make and it makes it pretty effectively. It's slick and well-acted and rather dark (figuratively, but also literally given the amount of rainy nights we seem to experience). Perhaps most people, most of the time, will have something better to watch, but perhaps that will be a pity given the competence of this piece of work from Davis Guggenheim.

This movie is totally awesome. I rented it expecting nothing but a teenager thriller like "Urban Legend" and it eventually revealed itself as an excellent film.The acting is very good, Derrick Webb has such a villain vibe that I thought his character really killed Naomi. The directing is well done, along with a tense and entertaining atmosphere. The story is quite original with an unpredictable progression. The ending is absolutely unexpected, I don't remember the last film that had such great twist in the end. I just don't understand how "Gossip" is so unknown on IMDb and low rated, but I surely recommend this to everyone.

Thousands upon thousands of film students have great ideas for films. They soon find out a basic premise is not enough. They need a good script.Someone forgot that with Gossip. They thought if they could emulate the style of Shallow Grave, and the intergroup tensions of Flatliners, they'd pull this one off. James Marsden and Lena Headey put in strong shifts as the leads. The film is stylishly shot. After that, you are struggling to say anything positive about this infantile non-event of a film.The leads are supposed to be undergraduates, though they all look about 31 but talk like 12-year-olds. They are 'shocked' that a dating couple might have had sex. They drink hard but never touch drugs. They only seem to take one class, about 400 of them packed in one room (no empty seats?) where the professor (who wrote THIS guy's lines??) picks on them because... well, I never figured that one out. And the three flatmates who initiate proceedings just would not be friends in real life.The ending is as bad as you have heard. You see it coming, but the only surprise is that you assume they will not go down this path, it is just too absurd, too against the flow, and so you writhe in shock and embarrassment when they 'reveal' their trick. And what exactly is Kate Hudson's supercilious smile at the end supposed to convey? "I was raped, but YOU are going to be gossiped about." Some victory. This film is glib and thoughtless, and probably would be offensive if you could remember it five minutes after ejecting the DVD.

Gossip (2000): Starring James Marsden, Kate Hudson, Joshua Jackson, Lena Headey, Norman Reedus, Edward James Olmos, Eric Bogosian, Sharown Lawrence, Mif, Marissa Coughlan, Kwok-Wing Leung, Poe, Vicky Lambert, Noam Jenkins, Kenya Massey, Stephanie Mills, Raven Dauda, Kristin Booth, Novie Edwards, Shanly Trinidad, Samantha Espie, Christopher Ralph, Kristen Holdenried, Robin Brule, Debora Pollitt, Sadie LeBlanc, Elisabeth Guber, Balazs Koos, Roman Podhora, Marc Hickox, Bill Lake, Jessica Greco, Aleksia Landeau, David Nichols, Marc Cohen, Sanjay Talwar, Norma Dell'Agnese, Charles Guggenheim, Marion Guggenheim, John Wills Martin, Meeka Schiro...Director Davis Googenheim, Screenplay Gregory Poirier, Theresa Rebeck.Director Davis Googenheim and screenwriters Gregory Poirier and Theresa Rebeck released "Gossip" in the spring of 2000, but this film was not a big hit at the box office and consequently went straight to video, cable and standard TV. The premise ? In an unidentified major Univeristy, presumably in the US, a group of college classmates, who are also roommates, take on a human/social experiment about the nature of gossip. They spread a rumor about the richest girl on campus, pretty, blonde Naomi Preston (Kate Hudson) who was once the girlfriend of the guy who is now exploiting her, Derrick Webb (James Marsden). Derrick and his wickedly careless and insensitive, cruel friends/roommates Cathy and Travis (Lena Headey and Norman Reedus) begin to spread the gossip concerning Naomi's date rape experience as well as other vicious and damaging lies. Before long, the entire school believes the lie and Naomi finds herself in the middle of a media circus and a public courthouse trial case. But she is determined to expose her colleagues and their malicious experiment and scheme. She consults investigators, among them Detective Curtis (portrayed by Latino actor Edward James Olmos) to seek out those who wronged her. Before long, Derrik, Cathy and Travis find themselves in big trouble and attempt to cover up their evil deed. This may not be a very powerful film or even a very great one, but it has a truthfulness and realism, played out with a "what if" kind of scenario that really carries the film, not to mention the great cast of actors giving it their all, despite being very young and good looking actors. As such, this film is for a young audience. At times, it appears as if it's an intensely dark soap opera intense and dark soap opera in which good looking people set out to harm others. In this case, it's a lot like "Cruel Intentions" ,which had been in theaters only a year earlier in 1999 (it had also starred Joshua Jackson and other hot young stars)which was in itself a modern take on the French novel and film "Dangerous Liasions". Clearly, the success of that film made this film possible. This is a very disturbing film and it's not suitable for even pre-adolescents, despite the young cast. It's really a dark drama about young adults but it's adult nonetheless. There is enough R rated material here to indicate that is intended to be viewed by a mature audience- violence, graphic sex (including rape) and profane language. Even with all this, the college classroom scenes are by far what provides the film with meaning. The professor and his student's conversations and eventual reactions to the rumor experiment is proof that people do indeed love gossip, but it's harmful and it dehumanizes and corrupts our society. The battle of the sexes discussion is also quite interesting and very well-handled. But the movie's heart lies in the fact that Derek Webb is the type of corrupt young man that actually exists out there and may be getting away with crimes, and all the more so because he looks harmless and is an attractive white male. Thus, this film is a caution tale, though this film is hardly Lifetime material, possibly because it has the independent Hollywood film signature all over it. I hope this movie opens people's eyes about gossip and about lies and how to value the truth which is the greatest human gift of all.