"If this is actually the college experience... consider trade school."
By Dane Youssef
Roger Avary's "The Rules Of Attraction" is a look at the "experimentation" of college life. Alcoholism, drug abuse, suicide and sexual escapades.
That's not to say that the movie is all about--oh wait, it pretty much is. There are a few moments of outside "experimentation," but it is mostly an orgy party. This is the kind of film Avary is best at. He showed this with his style and energy in movies like "Killing Zoe" and "Pulp Fiction."
He's been gone for about a decade working on this and has claimed that the "unfilmable" novels by Brett Eastern Ellis ("American Psycho" and "Less Than Zero") had been horrid adaptations because they strip Ellis's storytelling style (told through accounts of multiple narrators giving their fuzzy testimonies).
In this new film, Avary tries to get that confused feeling down with different style techniques: rewind, fast-foreword, split-screen and multiple narratives.
It sometimes works and it sometimes doesn't. Perhaps this movie directed more like Christopher Nolan's "Following" and "Memento" and Steven Soderberg's "Full Frontal" instead of Fisher Steven's "Just A Kiss."
The performances are pretty strong, the best from James Van Der Beek ("Dawson's Creek," "Varsity Blues") playing the lecherous and sexually and neurotically charged Sean who's pastimes include anonymous sex and the use of every narcotic known to man.
He has a creepy glare made famous from most Stanley Kubrick films and a sardonic and uncaring nature. An "emotional vampire" he calls himself.
Shannyn Sossamon plays a college student who has eyes for her boyfriend, Victor (Kip Pardue) and is saving her virginity for him. She looks at gruesome books about STD's and other vaginal diseases to keep herself out of having sex.
What Lauren doesn't know is that Victor is in Europe and perhaps having sex with with the entire Continent. He narrates a capsule summary of his incredible escapades and is one of the best sequences in the movie.
Poor Lauren. She plans to lose her virginity to Victor, but as we see in the movie in the opening, that doesn't quite pan out.
Ian Somerhalder, model and all-around pretty boy plays the now openly-gay Paul who has eyes for Sean and tries to get him to succumb to his side. In the original novel by Ellis, Sean is a bisexual who sleeps with Paul. In the film, the two are seen kissing and making out in Sean's room. But is it real or is it all in Paul's head? The split-screen makes it all so confusing.
Jessica Biel ("7th Heaven") plays Laura's promiscuous roommate who's libido is running non-stop and drug intake is piling up. She gets a nosebleed ("rusty pipes") and sleeps with the men important to Lauren.
Eric Stoltz, Faye Dunaway and Swoozie Kurtz play the only adults in the movie who are really no better than the kids. A bit of Mr. Avary's creative license kicks in here (Stoltz's foppish teacher, Mr. Lawson) was not in the original novel. He states he cannot deflower Ms. Hyde because he is married with children and she is an undergraduate.
But oral doesn't count, right Mr. President?
Avary's technique sometimes works with the opening's bungee-jumping narrative, as well as a split-screen shot approach showing how two characters on completely different paths walking along and minding their own business meet up at the same location. And once a character's shades come off, the shot completes--indicating love at first sight. Really nice, Rog.
And the back-packing trip to Europe with the mysterious Victor who hosts and stars in this orgy of FF>. Some characters are kinda fun, but it feels too much like Avary is indulging himself too much to dig a little deeper into these characters.
In Ellis'es book, they let us get inside the characters. Right into their heads in a way we did in "Memento." A more style like "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and insider feel like "Memento" I think would have been a better approach.
Still, Avary is a stylist first and foremost. He gave "PF" and "KZ" it's hyper-kinetic juice. So it's not a bad movie, not at all.
Still, it is commendable, if not a lot more. For a great inside feel of these characters heads, read Ellis's novel. For a wicked orgy-rush film with a college backdrop, check out Avary's film.
"Rules of Attraction" is worth a look any way you cut it.
By the way, last I heard Avary was working on... Oh yeah, another Ellis novel.
Anyone out there know what Avary is up to now?
This movie review was submitted via our Submit A Review page.
This review was submitted via our Submit A Review page.
A Review of Disturbia
"Above and Beyond"
Disturbia is the teen suspense thriller that steps beyond its genre to bring a unique form of entertainment. When seventeen year-old Kale Brecht (Shia LaBeouf) punches his Spanish teacher for commenting on his dead father, the troubled teen is sentenced to three months house arrest. During this time, he must wear an ankle monitoring device to ensure that he stays within a hundred feet of his house. Carrie-Ann Moss plays LaBeouf's mother, Julie Brecht, and constantly says, "Clean up your room." When she finds Kale's room in a mess, she resorts to cutting the cable TV cord and cancelling his Xbox Live and iTunes accounts. With the absence of technology, Kale starts watching the neighbors through his windows. He observes Ashley Carlson (Sarah Roemer), the girl that just moved in next door, performing yoga. In addition, he sees a house wife having an affair and pre-teens watching porn. When Kale, his best friend Ronnie (Aaron Yoo), and Ashley suspect Mr. Turner (David Morse) is a serial killer, they begin spying on him. Subsequently, Mr. Turner discovers he is being watched and the teens become caught up in an unforeseen circumstance.
Disturbia's director, D. J. Caruso, examines the issue of privacy in suburban life. The movie is a retelling of the 1954 Alfred Hitchcock film, Rear Window, in which L.B. Jefferies (James Stewart) and Lisa Carol Fremont (Grace Kelly) spy on suspected killer Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr). This film was based off the 1942 short story, It Had to Be Murder, by Cornell Woolrich. Nonetheless, Disturbia is a retelling of Rear Window for the high-tech generation, not a simple remake. LaBeouf does not try to be James Stewart for today's youth. He successfully plays a typical hormonal teenage boy who resorts to snooping. When Hitchcock's film debuted, American's were disillusioned. The public believed that everybody was respectable and trustworthy. In today's society, Americans believe it is their right to be suspicious of their neighbors. This mentality allows them to gain a sense of self-justification in knowing what goes on in their neighborhood.
In addition, Disturbia utilizes suburban elements from the movie American Beauty. In American Beauty a depressed father decides to turn his life around when he becomes obsessed with his daughter's friend. Both of these movies portray suburban life and its effects on relationships. For example in Disturbia, Ashley's father is having an affair. She says that her parents moved to the suburbs because, "City life had its temptations." This portrayal of suburban life is probable and teenagers whose parents are divorced could relate to her situation.
Consequently, Disturbia effectively appeals to America's youth through cultural references. For example, Kale plays Xbox Live and listens to his IPod. These technological references appeal to the young audience, who are able to associate with Kale's circumstances. The screen writers, Christopher Landon and Carl Ellsworth, did a superb job of depicting Kale and Ronnie as average teens. Kale drinks Red Bulls, builds a tower of Twinkies, and puts on a Ramones shirt. These are average activities a teenage boy might do over the summer. LaBeouf's acting is exceptional not only in the delivery of his lines, but also in his facial expressions. When his father dies, his stunned expression is remarkably realistic. However, Aaron Yoo provides outstanding comic relief. For instance, Ronnie brakes into Mr. Turner's car he says to Kale, "This is a lot harder than it looks on the Internet." Yoo and LaBeouf perform as exceedingly realistic best friends with their casual buddy dialogue.
On the other hand, Roemer's acting is not as strong as the other characters. In some of her scenes, she does not look scared enough given the situation. Also, the screenwriters were not as successful with Roemer's character, Ashley, who does not completely depict the average teenage girl. She does make cliché girl comments such as, "I love her shoes." Yet, she flaunts around in a bikini and climbs to her roof to read which is not typical of the average suburban teen. Carrie-Ann Moss does a better job with her role as Julie Brecht. Her scenes are few but adequate enough for the audience to understand her love and frustration towards her son. Undoubtedly, the best acting is produced by David Morse. He is said to have not talked to LaBeouf during the production of the movie to enable him to immerse himself in his character's mind. His calm tone of voice and precise delivery of ambiguous dialogue is guaranteed to keep the audience guessing. Mr. Turner snickers as he states, "So now you know you're not the only one who's watching." The screenwriters had exceptional dialogue to give the character a sinister ambiance that is essential in an impressive suspense thriller.
There are several things that Disturbia does not accurately portray. Although the setting is the conventional suburb, it is improbable that numerous neighbors do not have adequate blinds. Kale is able to pick up the binoculars and look into several homes with unrealistic ease. When Kale and Ashley spy on Mr. Turner, Kale states, "Only in Disturbia. Where else are you gonna get this kind of entertainment?" This mentality is anticipated of teenagers who have grown up watching reality television. Furthermore, this statement depicts their immaturity and lack of respect for privacy that could be expected of some preteens, but not of teens their age. There are also flaws in the continuality of the movie. For instance, when Kale is tiding up his room he throws a shirt on top of the tower of Twinkies, but in the next two scenes the Twinkie tower is uncovered. In addition, Kale puts stickers on his ankle monitor, but in the next scene there are not stickers on the device.
Although there are flaws in the movie, it does move beyond the genre of a teen suspense thriller to also include aspects of comedy, romance, and drama. Typical teen thrillers tend to have lots of blood and gore, but this movie appeals to the audience's suspense factor instead of showing blood gushing everywhere. The music adds to the suspense, because it is successfully positioned during moments of high tension. The suspenseful music allows the audience to bite their nails and remain on the edge of their seats. Comedy is present, when Ronnie makes witty remarks during moments of suspense. The movie displays the romance element through the cat and mouse relationship between Kale and Ashley. Finally, in scenes with Kale and his mother, the dialogue is especially dramatic. By adding several genres into one movie, Disturbia goes above and beyond the average teen thriller to establish a film that appeals to today's youth.
