Entertainment

‘Dare’ say, it takes risks

‘Dare” is a high school coming-of-age film that dares to push the envelope. It doesn’t always succeed, but that’s not for lack of trying.

Directed by Adam Salky and written by David Brind, “Dare” is an expansion of a 16-minute student film they made at Columbia.

The full-length version concentrates on three high schoolers in a well-to-do Philadelphia suburb.

Alexa (Emmy Rossum) is a would-be actress who goes from prim to provocative after somebody tells her to live a little. A streak in her hair, a thigh-high black skirt and a twinkle in her eyes do the trick.

Curly haired Ben (Ashley Springer) — Alexa’s best friend — discovers one night that he prefers boys to girls. Johnny (Zach Gilford) — a lonely bad boy (his parents have split) — samples both Alexa and Ben.

There’s a lot going on as the three play musical beds, going from twosomes to threesomes, on land and in a swimming pool.

Sometimes their friend Courtney (Rooney Mara) adds variety to the sexual high jinks.

Performances by all are personable and believable, and although “Dare” sometimes goes overboard in its need to shock, it is never less than watchable.

vam@nypost.com