Rules of Attraction Review
by Bob Bloom (bobbloom AT iquest DOT net)October 14th, 2002
THE RULES OF ATTRACTION (2002) 1 1/2 stars out of 4. Starring James Van Der Beek, Shannyn Sossamon, Jessica Biel, Kip Pardue, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Ian Somerhalder, Faye Dunaway, Kate Bosworth and Clifton Collins Jr. Based on the book Bret Easton Ellis. Written and directed by Roger Avary. Rated R. Running time: 104 minutes.
Too many camera tricks and a cast of insipid and unsympathetic characters make for an unfulfilling experience when trying to discern The Rules of Attraction.
Based on a novel by American Psycho's Bret Easton Ellis, the movie follows a group of bored and boring coeds at affluent, liberal Camden College in New England as they get drunk, stoned and make loveless love.
I think the college offers classes, but since only one professor is ever seen — a cameo by Eric Stoltz — and all he wants to do is get high and take advantage of the female student population, it's hard to tell.
No one ever goes to class. The young cast — led by Dawson Creek's James Van Der Beek — seem to spend most of their time suffering from either hangovers or the after-effects of doing too many lines or smoking too many joints.
Van Der Beek portrays his Sean Bateman as if he were a lightweight Alex from A Clockwork Orange. Sean is the campus drug dealer. Of all the amoral, selfish characters in the film, his tops the totem pole.
And that is Rules' main problem. You have no affinity for most of the characters. Nothing about them is attractive. What they see in each other also is difficult to fathom.
Director Roger Avary, working from his own script, acts like a little boy playing with his first camera. The film opens with an interesting sequence in which events are run backwards, but repetition dulls this device until it becomes a distraction.
A sequence shot in fast-forward as one character narrates his European sojourn is lively and provocative. The rest of the feature fails to meet its originality.
Shannyn Sossamon, who made her debut in A Knight's Tale, plays Lauren, the most sympathetic character. Her main goal is to save herself for Victor (Remember the Titans' Kip Pardue) the student sleeping and doping himself across Europe.
Sean, though attracted to Lauren, can't resist temptation, and winds up sleeping with her roommate.
And the wheel goes round and round. Rules of Attraction rests on a foundation of cynicism and black comedy, offering some witty dialogue, but lacking a sense of time and place.
Van Der Beek's Sean, younger brother of Patrick Bateman, the protagonist of American Psycho, tries mightily to create a character who emits an aura of danger, combined with a stalking hedonism plus a casual cruelty.
However, he fails to meet the challenge. While a good actor, Van Der Beek lacks the charisma and intellectual fire needed to lure his unsuspecting prey into his various webs.
An interesting soundtrack, ranging from Donovan to Harry Nilsson to The Cure and Blondie, help define various moments.
Overall, Rules of Attraction leaves you unsatisfied. The characters' voice-overs are too pretentious and self-conscious, the games they perpetrate are too many and cruel and, when you get down to it, you really don't like spending any time with these self-absorbed nobodies.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or at [email protected]. Other reviews by Bloom can be found at www.jconline.com by clicking on golafayette.
Bloom's reviews also appear on the Web at the Rottentomatoes Web site, www.rottentomatoes.com and at the Internet Movie Database:
http://www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
More on 'Rules of Attraction'...
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
