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The Rules of Attraction

(2002)

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***1/2 of ****
Rated: R
Director: Roger Avary
Writiers:
Bret Easton Ellis (novel)
Roger Avary (screenplay)

It was trying to be a bit hipper than it really was, & it must have been sponsored by Jack Daniels!  This had to be cut down from a NC-17 rating, but as it
was, many people over 50 years of age walked out.  Much crudeness!  Every character is messed up in some way, or in several ways.  It was fun to
watch, but it's a bit depressing too.  The brutal comic biopic of college life in this age of mindless gratification & self absorption has a despondent absence
of love, and a general lack of human compassion within most of the characters.  The frequent sex scenes are so purposely devoid of human caring, that the
many masturbation scenes seem to have greater human compassion.  The lack of any character to root for left the audience rooting for the hope that
someone would get their act together, and that shows the success of this film that will be completely uncomprehended by the paid critics.  The sound &
music was good & appropriate for this film.  There is a sense that this film doesn't know what it wants to be, but that is probably intentional.  The broken
time line & reverse action loops do instill a sense of both connectedness & disorientation between events.  The direction ended up better than it seemed to
start out, but there again, I think that was intentional.  

James van der Beek really carries the movie with his growth from emptiness to a different kind of emptiness.  Shannyn Sossamon again performs better
than in "A Knight's Tale" & is successful in bringing her character outside the twisted norm.  Ian Somerhalder & Jessica Biel each make their contributions
to this film in their own ways.  Kate Bosworth plays her short part just right.  

Over all, it is a good film that recalls a lot of college fun, but in a rather depressing way.