Rules Of Attraction
Directed by: Roger Avary
Written by: Bret Easton Ellis (novel), Roger Avary (screenplay)
Starring: James Van Der Beek, Jessica Biel, Shannyn Sossamon, Ian Somerhalder, Kate Bosworth, Thomas Ian Nicholas

When you hear about a movie starring James Van Der Beek with a name like “Rules of Attraction”, your first instinct is to assume that it is some sort of romantic teen comedy drivel. Ironically, nothing could be farther from the truth.

First off, Rules of Attraction is based on a novel by Bret Easton Ellis, who also wrote American Psycho, so you know it’s going to be anything but romantic. Secondly, the movie is helmed by Roger Avary, who was Quentin Tarantino’s often overlooked partner in the writing of Pulp Fiction, and who also directed Killing Zoe. With this film, Avary has sewn together a strange, disjointed collection of segments and messes with timelines in a way that is similar to, but much more schizophrenic than, Pulp Fiction. From the frequent use of reverse photography, to an innovative split screen scene illustrating the first meeting of two characters, to a disruptive high-speed 5 minute collage of another character’s trip to Europe, Avary messes with our senses in interesting ways.

Rules of Attraction could conceivably be compared to films such as Requiem For A Dream, Trainspotting, and Vanilla Sky. In the book, Bret Easton Ellis focuses on the college experiences of Sean Bateman (brother of American Psycho’s main character Patrick Bateman) as he and a number of other students live a life of excess — basically partying and getting laid. Aside from Sean, the other two main characters are Paul Denton, a bisexual guy who develops a crush on Sean, and Lauren, a girl who Sean is becoming obsessed with because he suspects she is secretly writing him love letters. There are many more characters who become entangled in this bizarre love triangle, far too many to count.

The story is dark and cynical with a sense of hyper-reality, and Avery showcases the shallow characters with satiric glee. At times it is hilarious and sarcastic, but other times it is depressing and grim. There is lots of sex, lots of drugs, and plenty of, as Van Der Beek himself deadpans repeatedly, “rock and roll”. There are some points, unfortunately, where the movie seems to get a little too artsy and self-indulgent for its own good, which is where Cameron Crowe’s Vanilla Sky is brought to mind. But these moments are not extreme enough to derail the entire flick, as long as you are an open-minded viewer.

This movie will make you wince uncomfortably every now and then, not unlike a Todd Solondz movie. This is due in large part to the gritty content, but perhaps the most uncomfortable thing about Rules Of Attraction is that it shatters the “goody-two shoes” images of so many television teen idols. I’ll certainly never watch Dawson’s Creek, 7th Heaven, or The Wonder Years in the same light again. These young actors deserve credit for taking a risk on a film like this, and most of them do manage to showcase a surprising versatility with their performances. Rules of Attraction is worth seeing just for Fred Savage’s appearance alone — his small role as a heroin junkie is just too funny and downright strange to miss.

Make no mistake, Rules Of Attraction is not a movie for everyone, and for the most part it is not a movie for the kinds of people it is likely to attract based on its cast. It’s dark, it’s weird, and it’s very unique. It does not present a straightforward story tied up in a neat little package, and in the end you may find yourself hard pressed to deduce the point of it all, but still, I highly recommend it for anyone who is up to the challenge (and of course anyone who is a fan of Bret Easton Ellis). — Sean