2008 Woodie Awards
The Covenant: Giving Witchcraft a Spin
Erika Rohrssen
Issue date: 9/27/06 Section: Arts & Entertainment
While Sony Pictures' teen thriller, The Covenant, did not fair well at the box office, many moviegoers thought the film was exciting. To date the movie has only grossed $8,852,458 in the United States, but it has gained a cult following among its teenage fans.
The film follows four prep school boys who are known as the Sons of Ipswich, because their families were among the first five to settle in the town. As decedents of the original founding families the boys are born with special powers. After the death of one of their classmates, strange things start happening, threatening the boys who have kept their powers secret from the world.
The covenant of silence that has protected their families for hundreds of years is jeopardized when a new boy at school who happens to be a member of the fifth, banished, family of Ipswich, tries to take over their lives.
The movie stars Steven Strait who plays the level headed Caleb Danvers. Strait, who shared the spotlight with Ashlee Simpson in the movie Undiscovered, was no stranger to playing a student with supernatural powers. In 2005, Strait played Warren Peace in Disney's comedy Sky High.
Opposite Strait was Laura Ramsey, who played Caleb's love interest Sarah Wenham. Ramsey who is fairly new to the business held her own in the film, taking in stride that she was not the star of the film. It was clear that Strait and Ramsey had on-screen chemistry as the two presented some steamy scenes that made many of the women in the theater melt.
Taylor Kitsch, Toby Hemingway, Sebastian Stan, and Chace Crawford rounded out the cast playing the four other Sons of Ipswich. Although none of these actors are very well known, they all played their respective characters nicely.
While the idea for the film was a good one, it was not shot properly. At many times during the film the audience was left wondering as it jumped from scene to scene without any explanation of what just happened.
Many of the fight scenes that took place between Strait's character and Stan's character, Chase Collins, seemed forced and were difficult to follow as the camera jumped back and forth between the two men.
The film follows four prep school boys who are known as the Sons of Ipswich, because their families were among the first five to settle in the town. As decedents of the original founding families the boys are born with special powers. After the death of one of their classmates, strange things start happening, threatening the boys who have kept their powers secret from the world.
The covenant of silence that has protected their families for hundreds of years is jeopardized when a new boy at school who happens to be a member of the fifth, banished, family of Ipswich, tries to take over their lives.
The movie stars Steven Strait who plays the level headed Caleb Danvers. Strait, who shared the spotlight with Ashlee Simpson in the movie Undiscovered, was no stranger to playing a student with supernatural powers. In 2005, Strait played Warren Peace in Disney's comedy Sky High.
Opposite Strait was Laura Ramsey, who played Caleb's love interest Sarah Wenham. Ramsey who is fairly new to the business held her own in the film, taking in stride that she was not the star of the film. It was clear that Strait and Ramsey had on-screen chemistry as the two presented some steamy scenes that made many of the women in the theater melt.
Taylor Kitsch, Toby Hemingway, Sebastian Stan, and Chace Crawford rounded out the cast playing the four other Sons of Ipswich. Although none of these actors are very well known, they all played their respective characters nicely.
While the idea for the film was a good one, it was not shot properly. At many times during the film the audience was left wondering as it jumped from scene to scene without any explanation of what just happened.
Many of the fight scenes that took place between Strait's character and Stan's character, Chase Collins, seemed forced and were difficult to follow as the camera jumped back and forth between the two men.