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"The First Time"
U.S. Dramatic
*** (three stars)
Every generation gets its "Say Anything..." – a sharp, literate teen love story – and writer-director Jonathan Kasdan makes a good case that this is the one. Dave (Dylan O'Brien) is a lovelorn guy about to tell his friend Jane (Nickelodeon star Victoria Justice) that he wants to be more than friends. But then he meets Aubrey (Britt Robertson), a girl from another school, with whom Dave shares immediate and mutual sparks. Kasdan (who directed "In the Land of Women," and, yes, his dad Lawrence directed "The Big Chill") delivers some smart dialogue and a keen insight to the romantic minefield of high-school life. O'Brien is charming enough, but Robertson is engaging and cute as a button, to boot.
— Sean P. Means
No more screenings of "The First Time" are scheduled.