X
- 2002
- Unrated
- Lionsgate Films
- 1 h 50 m
- 2002
- Unrated
- Lionsgate Films
- 1 h 50 m
Summary Set at an affluent New England liberal arts college, this film takes a satiric look at an emerging sexual triangle.
Directed By: Roger Avary
Written By: Bret Easton Ellis, Roger Avary
- 2002
- Unrated
- Lionsgate Films
- 1 h 50 m
- 2002
- Unrated
- Lionsgate Films
- 1 h 50 m
The Rules of Attraction
50
4.6
Where to Watch
Summary Set at an affluent New England liberal arts college, this film takes a satiric look at an emerging sexual triangle.
Directed By: Roger Avary
Written By: Bret Easton Ellis, Roger Avary
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 30 Critic Reviews
50
43% Positive
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
30% Mixed
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
27% Negative
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 30 Critic Reviews
50
43% Positive
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
30% Mixed
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
27% Negative
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
The cast is a pitch-perfect assemblage of pretty young things, but James Van Der Beek, as a slit-eyed dorm stud, proves that he can be an actor of cruel force.
At times darkly funny and at other times depressingly tragic. It's safe to say there aren't any movies out there quite like this one.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 36 User Ratings
4.6
42% Positive
15 Ratings
15 Ratings
22% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
36% Negative
13 Ratings
13 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 36 User Ratings
4.6
42% Positive
15 Ratings
15 Ratings
22% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
36% Negative
13 Ratings
13 Ratings
This movie surprised me with its grim and edgy theme. Yet it's originality and "Anti-cliche" feel, brought about it an essence of reality. The movie helped me discover a taste in genre's I did not realise I had before. Most reviews of this movie are surprisingly negative, which made it clear to me that this movie has een extremely underrated. I loved the way in which the movie showed the realistic thoughts of youth these days, and a slight aspect of love.
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7 stars
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The movie feels more like a walk across campus than a movie. That's so depressing. On the other hand, each of these lost children is really looking for the same thing, ol' Mr. Love.
There is no entry portal in The Rules of Attraction, and I spent most of the movie feeling depressed by the shallow, selfish, greedy characters. I wanted to be at another party.
It's a small-minded and jejune film, and it feels strangely out-of-date considering how loaded it is with right-here-right-now signifiers.
Some movies just bring out your inner Matlock: a desire to grab young punks by the lapels, smack them against a wall, knock their cigarettes to the ground and wipe the sneers off their faces. Such is the case with the callow and cynical The Rules of Attraction.
Ugh. The Rules of Attraction is the kind of movie that leaves vague impressions and a nasty aftertaste.
"IF THIS IS 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 **** 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 **** 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? 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' books, he lets 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" is kind of the way this thing works--we're kind of only getting their version. 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. It's commendable, if not a lot more. "Rules of Attraction" is worth a look any way you cut it. --Hoping There's Hope, Dane Youssef
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Kind of a dumb movie. Just a guy telling his story of what happened to him one night at a party. It's a interesting movie but dumb.
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Production Company
Kingsgate Films,
Roger Avary Filmproduktion GmbH
Release Date Oct 11, 2002
Duration 1 h 50 m
Rating Unrated
Tagline We all run on instinct.
Awards
Golden Schmoes Awards
• 1 Win & 3 Nominations
Golden Trailer Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
GLAAD Media Awards
• 1 Nomination
