Bret Easton Ellis writes novels that focus on the charismatic sociopath searching for an emotional connection. His first book, Less Than Zero, was a blast when I read it, like a much more real version of the movie crap Hollywood was putting out in the mid-’80s. But his stories work much better on the page than on the screen and The Rules of Attraction is no exception.
Roger Avary (Killing Zoe) writes and directs, trying to make something artful and eclectic out of something that doesn’t really have a plot; in fact, he’s going to have an even more difficult time with Ellis’ recent novel Glamorama, which he’s making now. Avary tries to use non-traditional techniques like running film backwards to connect the three main characters to each other, as well as quite a bit of voiceover, and wrapping the film in a flashback without letting the audience know what they’ve seen is the denoument. So I watched the whole film thinking that the first few minutes were actually the story’s beginning.
James Van Der Beek plays the semi-lead character, Sean, who tells us at the beginning that he’s an emotional vampire. Shannyn Sossamon is a fellow student, Lauren, who’s caught Sean’s eye but is only interested in the missing Victor. Ian Somerhalder plays a student named Paul just coming into his own homosexuality who also wants Sean in his bed. Sean thinks Lauren has been sending him unsigned love letters–though she hasn’t, the letters come from another–and Sean somehow sees her as an innocent, uncorrupted spirit, something he’s apparently never been. The truth, as with the letters, is quite different as we see Lauren submit to drunken sex, smoke pot and go down on a TA to help her grade and snort coke with her roommate.
In fact, in place of a plot Avary mainly shows us scenes of drug and alcohol consumption, foreplay and sex (though nothing more explicit than bare breasts get onscreen) and a bit of rudeness and violence. The result is a pretty but empty mishmash.
Sadly, not recommended
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