The Rules of Attraction
Written and Directed by Roger Avary.
Starring James Van Der Beek, Shannyn Sossamon, Ian Somerhalder,
Jessica Biel.
Welcome to the world of the American college student — drinking, partying, fucking, and ... well that’s about it really: drinking, partying, fucking. Try not to get too confused about all the parties, there’s an awful lot of them! You can toss in a bit of drug-dealing and fighting, but otherwise that seems to occupy 24/7. Do these people ever study?
The story revolves around the lives of several characters, all told in flashback. The central character is Sean Bateman, played by James van der Beek (you know, the guy from Dawson’s Creek?). Around him flow several characters: a girl saving her virginity for her boyfriend’s return from Europe; her party-animal roommate; the gay guy attracted to guys who aren’t, and the mystery author of a series of love letters to Sean. All of the characters are completely shallow, which we see though both their actions and sometimes their thoughts. And yes, the cute guys in the film are the gay ones. Look out for Fred Savage (ex-the kid from The Wonder Years).
In contrast to the students, we have the mothers, played by screen veterans Swoozie Kurtz and Faye Dunaway, whose lives are even more empty than their kids, and swap nameless pills to get through their days. I’m reminded of the words of Renton from Trainspotting, “...my mother, who is, in her own domestic and socially acceptable way, also a drug addict.” Their kids have grown, their husbands are at work and the only thing they have left to do is pick the colour of their next car. At least the students have something to look forward to if they can manage to keep three brain cells intact through the haze of drugs and booze and actually pass some exams.
The Rules of Attraction is the screen adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel. I enjoyed it a lot more than the film adaptation of American Psycho, but then in that case I had read the novel and this time I haven’t, so that undoubtedly helps.
Director Roger Avery adds some nice touches, like running the film backwards before each character’s story, to put it in context, as most of the action happens contemporaneously with the other characters’ stories. So we have girl leading a guy across a room, the crack of billiard balls, a man lifting a bottle to his lips, to put each story in context. Less impressive is the gun toting monologue addressed to the camera, its too been-there Tarantino-esque. The cognoscenti are aware that much which is thought to be Tarantino-esque is really Avery-esque, but either way, it’s been done.
I imagine this film has an R rating. But there’s probably an argument to say that the first 15 minutes of the film could be used as a community service announcement against the perils of excessive drinking. Some of the early scenes would be very uncomfortable, particularly to female viewers.
Thoughout the film, all the characters remain equally shallow, although Sean Bateman ultimately shows himself as possibly the only true romantic in the film, as he falls in love with the mind of the author of the notes even though he has no idea who the person is.
Finally, bubbling away in the (very) background are issues of free will and determinism; can the people change their lives, make different decisions, or is it all just a case of “I knew it was going to happen.”
When it comes down to it, I enjoyed watching it. 3¼ stars.
Peter Cassidy
