Sunday mornings and Dawson's Creek will never be the same again. Casting James Van Der Beek (television's squeaky clean Dawson) as Sean Bateman, an intense college kid who sleeps around and deals drugs, is a bold piece of casting that really pays off.
Roger Avary's (Killing Zoe) third movie in the director's chair focuses on Bateman and other disaffected rich kids sleeping and snorting their way through college, moving from one party to the next in the search for loveless sex. The tag of 'beautiful outside, ugly inside' fits almost every character in this film perfectly. The only character for which one has any sympathy is Lauren (Shannon Sossamon) who is saving herself for the right guy, but will she find him here? It seems unlikely. And anyway, even she blows her college professor for better grades.
Dawson's Creek this is most definitely not. Scenes of suicide, rape and, most bizarrely, Van Der Beek straining on the toilet, mean that this is not a wholesome family movie. Don't be put off though. The bold style, great soundtrack and strong performances from a very talented young cast makes this an engaging if bruising movie.
Take a deep breath, pay your £8, take your seat and try not to choke on your popcorn.
**** / *****
Roger Avary's (Killing Zoe) third movie in the director's chair focuses on Bateman and other disaffected rich kids sleeping and snorting their way through college, moving from one party to the next in the search for loveless sex. The tag of 'beautiful outside, ugly inside' fits almost every character in this film perfectly. The only character for which one has any sympathy is Lauren (Shannon Sossamon) who is saving herself for the right guy, but will she find him here? It seems unlikely. And anyway, even she blows her college professor for better grades.
Dawson's Creek this is most definitely not. Scenes of suicide, rape and, most bizarrely, Van Der Beek straining on the toilet, mean that this is not a wholesome family movie. Don't be put off though. The bold style, great soundtrack and strong performances from a very talented young cast makes this an engaging if bruising movie.
Take a deep breath, pay your £8, take your seat and try not to choke on your popcorn.
**** / *****