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The Rules of Attraction (2002) |
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Written by Scott Meadow
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Sunday, 21 December 2003 (read 1638 times) |
It's fashionable in literary circles to hate Bret Ellis novels and yet
Lion's Gate films can't stop making movies of them. The
Rules of Attraction is the second Ellis' adaptation since
their 2000 production of American Psycho, which
spiked more than it's share of controversy at the MPAA: not due to its
graphic depiction of murder and torture, of which there is plenty, but
due to an emotionless orgy scene where actor Bale admires himself in
the mirror while servicing two hired ladies. This misplaced objection
is typical of the reaction Ellis' work inspires.
Rules is a disturbing look at an alienated world
as it unfolds on a small New England college campus during the
1980s. Drugs, booze, indiscriminate sex, all are staples for the
students there, who spend their time waiting for the next orgy/party
and dropping classes which interfere. Teachers are sexual
predators and hypocrites, using students for sex while maintaining
their positions of authority. Life, ultimately, is full of action
-- fast, furious, drug-addled interactions with strangers -- but sans
any meaning or message.
Like American Psycho, Rules
is as much social commentary as story, with credible, solid
performances by Shannyn Sossamon (40 Days and 40
Nights and no, she's not
Angelina Jolie), James Van Der Beek (Dawson's
Creek), and Ian Somerhalder (Changing
Hearts) as the bisexual Paul Denton looking for love in
all the wrong places.
Unlike
Psycho, Rules somewhat falls
short of delivering its message. In Psycho,
the utterly chilling final scene makes it clear that redemption is not
guaranteed, nobody will necessarily stop you from doing horrible things
and that justice doesn't always prevail. You are faced,
ultimately with only a cold nothingness -- in Bateman's (Bale) steely
gaze -- to reflect upon in the face of your actions. Here,
Rules opts for Van Der Beek (Sean Bateman,
Psycho Patrick's younger brother) simply taking
off into the night on his motorcycle, leaving an ambivalent Sossamon to
coolly ponder his abscence. In film, indifference is possibly the
one theme that is rarely -- if ever -- successfully delivered and never
very satisfying. To offer no insight at all into the human
condition doesn't usually indicate you're trying very hard as a writer
or filmmaker.
This aside, what Rules may lack in realizing a
strong message it makes up for with plot development and character
insight. Arguably, none of the
characters in Rules are "developed," but we are
given insight into each one's estranged life, such as it is, which not
only moves the plot but supports the film's theme -- articulated by
Sossamon's character Lauren -- that "you never really know anyone
else," essentially because none of the characters really knows
themselves. Ultimately, the film features solid, good
performances from some unexpected places and more than a few well
conceived cinematic moments (thanks to Robert Brinkmann - The
Cable Guy, Truth about Cats & Dogs,
Encino Man) which make it worth the while.
Van Der Beek sheds his bubblegum TV Dawson's Creek
image and proves he can be an indie film actor. This bodes well.
I would be remiss not to mention that the screenplay's author (and the
film's director) was Canadian born Roger Avary, Quentin Tarantino's
sometime collaborator and contributor to such films as Pulp
Fiction (1994), Killing Zoe (1994),
True Romance (1993), and Reservoir
Dogs (1992). Some fans of those films have noted
similarities between scenes from those films and scenes in
Rules, intentional or not. For myself, such
similarities if any are too superficial to be meaningful and ultimately
add or detract nothing from the film itself. The one element of
Rules that intentionally recalls another film --
Sean being Patrick Bateman's younger brother -- is never developed at
all which I did find disappointing, despite Van Der Beek's cool
performance clearly inspired by Christian Bale's psychopathic Patrick.
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