This is a movie that will sicken many people. Roger Avary faced a massive challenge when deciding to direct a film of Bret Easton Ellis' complex and hallucinary book. The book has no narrative focus, no beginning or end and focuses on a group of selfish, morally ambiguous characters. The story deals with drugs, rape, homosexuality,and obsessions of every kind, and despite Lion's Gate's best efforts to market the movie as a american pie-lite slice o' college life- the movie bombed in America.
However i feel that there is much in this movie to commend. While the movie provides its central characters with zero morals, it never paints its youths as all smiling jocks in way american pie did with paper-thin characters such as the "stiffmeister". While the "pie" movies were just funny, this one has its darkly funny moments intermixed with scenes of tragedy and sadness. Don't think teen movie when choosing to see this film, you should be thinking more of Fight Club. These charachters are apathetic lost souls, people who we should be wary of becoming. This is a movie without resolution or love, but it is one worth seeing.
Avary scores a slam-dunk with the brilliant forwards-backwards beginning which manages to stay faithful to the spirit of the source material, whilst also being stylish and exciting to watch. Also a scene where an obsessive admirer of Sean (James' Van Der Beek's character) choses to end her life is as emotionally devastating as anything i have seen in the cinema for a long time. Avary deploys his camera very cleverly in this scene, and it never appears too graphic. This scene in particular really captures the essence of Ellis's book, as does Victor's thrilling trip round Europe. I was however disappointed that Paul's character had been cut down so much. Many fantastic scenes between Paul and Sean are missing from the book, rendering the relationship between the two conventional and flat. The major drawback of the film was that it often felt like a collection of great scenes stuck together without enough glue between them. I think if the movie had run ten minutes longer, or some of the scenes with Rupert, Sean's Dealer had been cut in length, then this movie would have worked better. I must add that i loved the soundtrack and it was one of the best i have heard since The Royal Tennenbaums. Lastly, special commendation must go to James Van Der Beek's excellent portrayal of Sean, the film's shark-eyed, drug-dealing lead. He really suprised me, as i hated this casting decision at first.
However i feel that there is much in this movie to commend. While the movie provides its central characters with zero morals, it never paints its youths as all smiling jocks in way american pie did with paper-thin characters such as the "stiffmeister". While the "pie" movies were just funny, this one has its darkly funny moments intermixed with scenes of tragedy and sadness. Don't think teen movie when choosing to see this film, you should be thinking more of Fight Club. These charachters are apathetic lost souls, people who we should be wary of becoming. This is a movie without resolution or love, but it is one worth seeing.
Avary scores a slam-dunk with the brilliant forwards-backwards beginning which manages to stay faithful to the spirit of the source material, whilst also being stylish and exciting to watch. Also a scene where an obsessive admirer of Sean (James' Van Der Beek's character) choses to end her life is as emotionally devastating as anything i have seen in the cinema for a long time. Avary deploys his camera very cleverly in this scene, and it never appears too graphic. This scene in particular really captures the essence of Ellis's book, as does Victor's thrilling trip round Europe. I was however disappointed that Paul's character had been cut down so much. Many fantastic scenes between Paul and Sean are missing from the book, rendering the relationship between the two conventional and flat. The major drawback of the film was that it often felt like a collection of great scenes stuck together without enough glue between them. I think if the movie had run ten minutes longer, or some of the scenes with Rupert, Sean's Dealer had been cut in length, then this movie would have worked better. I must add that i loved the soundtrack and it was one of the best i have heard since The Royal Tennenbaums. Lastly, special commendation must go to James Van Der Beek's excellent portrayal of Sean, the film's shark-eyed, drug-dealing lead. He really suprised me, as i hated this casting decision at first.