Rules of Attraction

Richard Avary, USA, 2002, minutes

In this adaption of Bret Easton Ellis’ novel, rich young students of a liberal New England art college drift through term in a haze of alcohol-fuelled, drug-crazed partying, meaningless sex and the occasional suicide... all the while searching for something far deeper to enrich their superficial lives.

The story loosely focuses on a bizarre love-triangle between the three central characters, Sean (James Van Der Beek), Lauren (Shannyn Sossamon), and her ex-boyfriend, Paul (Ian Somerhalder) who has recently revealed his true sexuality. Sean believes himself to be in love with Lauren, the supposed writer of the mysterious love-letters he receives in his mail box. Lauren on the other hand, though not completely cold to his affections, is saving herself for Victor, currently travelling in Europe, and the object of her growing infatuation. Paul meanwhile has fallen for Sean, but predictably is finding it hard to get the kind of attention from him that he wants.

James Van der Beek may be of particular interest, shaking off his 'Dawson’ persona and swapping sleepovers for hangovers, as he convincingly plays the cold, impenetrable Sean Bateman, seemingly devoid of emotion (like his brother, the infamous Patrick Bateman of American Psycho). Other roles to watch out for are Shannyn Sossamon (A Knights Tale) as Lauren, who seems the most human of them all, and a dynamic performance by a young actor named Russel Sams, who lights up the screen in an outrageous restaurant scene before sadly disappearing for the rest of the film.

Avary plays around with the time frame, using split screens and sequences played backward to give the film its own 'not-the-usual-teen-flick’ style. However, this is a film that has sparked mixed reviews, and while some may find that the unusual direction adds to what could be called a modern cult-classic, others could see it as merely trying to be 'clever’, and that really the film is just a heady catalogue of events that in their attempt at being gritty, don’t actually add up to anything of particular meaning. But is this not Avary’s point altogether, the supposed meaningless of the scenes highlighting the emptiness of the youth culture that he tries to portray?

Not one for the parents!

Review by Clara Shakespear
Written for EUFS Programme Spring 2004