WE all enjoy a good gossip. Most of the time, it seems harmless enough, but what happens when the gossip mutates into something far more hurtful?

That's the dilemma faced by flatmates Derrick (James Marsden), Jones (Lena Headey) and Travis (Norman Reedus), three students on a communication studies course who plant a rumour and see how it festers.

The trio falsely claim that the notoriously chaste Naomi (Kate Hudson) had sex with her boyfriend Beau (Joshua Jackson) at a party.

Within hours, the gossip has made its way up and down the campus, and everyone is labelling Naomi a hypocrite for wearing her virginity on her sleeve, then secretly bedding Beau.

In truth, Naomi and Beau did not sleep together at the party: She passed out from consuming too much booze and he left her to sleep off her hangover.

Derrick, Jones and Travis know that, so does Beau. Unfortunately Naomi does not, and she jumps to the conclusion that Beau must have raped her while she was unconscious, and files charges with the police.

Unable to stand by and see an innocent young man go to jail for a crime he did not commit, Jones sets about clearing Beau's name. But she discovers disturbing secrets about one of her housemates which throws a completely different light on their current predicament.

Marsden oozes charisma as rich and handsome ladies man Derrick, while English rose Headey makes an appealingly feisty heroine.

Reedus' grungy artist (who can afford rather a lot of expensive equipment on a meagre student's income) is a bit of an odd-ball.

Director Davis Guggenheim doesn't impose himself enough on the picture, but Andrezej Bartkowiak's cinematography is rather eye-catching, transforming Derrick, Travis and Jones into Calvin Klein models.