Review: "The Rules of Attraction" Breaks Rules (Happy B'day, James Van Der Beek)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 49 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Rules of Attraction (2002)
Running time: 100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong sexual content, drug use, language and violent images (edited for re-rating)
DIRECTOR: Roger Avary
WRITER: Roger Avary (based upon the novel by Bret Easton Ellis)
PRODUCER: Greg Shapiro
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert Brinkmann
EDITOR: Sharon Rutter
COMPOSERS: tomandandy

DRAMA

Starring: James Van Der Beek, Ian Somerhalder, Shannyn Sossamon, Jessica Biel, Kate Bosworth, Jay Baruchel, Clifton Collins, Jr., Faye Dunaway, Swoosie Kurtz, Eric Stoltz, Fred Savage, and Kip Pardue

Roger Avary’s (who won an Oscar for co-writing Pulp Fiction) film The Rules of Attraction, an adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s novel of the same name, initially received an NC-17 rating before being edited to an R, and I have to say that I’d be afraid to see the “harsher” version that was too much for the tepid appetites of the MPAA rating board. It’s an apocalyptic love story about a love triangle involving three very self-absorbed students at a small New England college. It’s not for everyone, but it’s a bracing movie that throws safe filmmaking conventions to the wind and takes the viewer on a helter-skelter ride into the lust lives of hedonistic youth.

Paul Denton (Ian Somerhalder) is in love with Sean Bateman (James Van Der Beek, Varsity Blues, “Dawson’s Creek”), while Sean is in love with Lauren Hynde (Shannyn Sossamon) who is in love with the mostly absent Victor Johnson (Kip Pardue). Sean and Lauren manage to cobble up some kind of relationship, and while Sean really starts to dig Lauren, he can’t help but screw it up. Meanwhile, the beautiful, bisexual Paul has the extreme hots for Sean, but Sean barely even notices him. So Paul pursues; Sean pursues, and Lauren kind of pursues, but she’s in sort of a zone of indecision – attracted to Sean and pining for Victor.

The novel was apparently told from several points of view, so to keep that spirit, Avary breaks linear time, shifts between varying points of view, compares and contrasts POV, and allows interior communication between character and viewer. In Sean’s case, we get a jumble and confusing mess of interior monologues that serve to establish his inability to relate to others beyond his need of them. Avary gives the film the running theme of that no one really ever knows anyone else and that maybe people don’t really want other people to know them. And to ask another for such an intimate entry is looked upon as disingenuous. Each character is so caught up in his desire for his object of attraction that he never really tries to know that person.

The Rules of Attraction is a fascinating, satiric, and darkly comic look at attraction and at obtaining the object of attraction. If it has a fault, it’s is that the film lapses into small, but periodic dry spells and moments of pointless observation that stop the movie instead of moving the story forward. However, the acting is very good, particular Van Der Beek in one of those roles that supposed to show the world that the pretty boy actor can be grim and gritty.

If there are rules of attraction, no one here seems to know them; the characters seem to play it by the seats of the pants they’re so quick to drop. I love this film. It’s a stunning visual testament to the ugliness and unbridled power of pursuit, a love story that’s different yet uncomfortably familiar.

7 of 10
B+

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Review: "Silent Hill" Movie is Creepy But Mediocre

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 97 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Silent Hill (2006)
Running time: 127 minutes (2 hours, 7 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong violence and gore, disturbing images, and some language
DIRECTOR: Christophe Gans
WRITER: Roger Avary
PRODUCERS: Don Carmody and Samuel Hadida
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Dan Laustsen
EDITOR: Sébastien Prangère

HORROR/FANTASY

Starring: Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean, Laurie Holden, Deborah Kara Unger, Kim Coates, Tanya Allen, Alice Krige, and Jodelle Ferland

Rose Da Silva’s (Radha Mitchell) adopted daughter, Sharon (Jodelle Ferland), walks in her sleep and calls out the name “Silent Hill.” Rose discovers that Silent Hill is a town located in Toluca County, West Virginia. In fact, Silent Hill is very near Brahams, which is where the orphanage from which Sharon came is located. Against her husband, Chris’ (Sean Bean) wishes, Rose takes Sharon and races for Silent Hill. Meanwhile, she attracts the attention of Brahams Police Department motorcycle officer, Cybil Bennett (Laurie Holden).

Rose and Sharon, however, have an auto accident near the boundary of Silent Hill. Rose awakens to find herself bruised and Sharon missing, so Rose walks into the mist-enshrouded Silent Hill searching for daughter. However, Officer Bennett has also followed them to Silent Hill, and she finds herself in the same predicament Rose does – lost in a seemingly abandoned town that sometimes transforms into a decayed “otherworld” where Rose and Cybil are stalked by horrifying creatures that walk with a disturbingly jerky gait. The two women band together to find Sharon, but the mystery of Silent Hill only deepens when they finally encounter Silent Hill’s human inhabitants.

Silent Hill is based upon the popular horror survival video game of the same title (the first of five – as of this writing – was released in 1999). Horror survival video games usually have players battle an onslaught of undead (usually zombies and monsters) and other supernatural creatures. The best known of this genre is Resident Evil, which has also spawned two film versions. Director Christophe Gans (Le Pacte des Loups – The Brotherhood of the Wolf ) and writer Roger Avary (Quentin Tarantino’s co-writer on Pulp Fiction) have based this movie on the first two games in the series.

Half of the time, the narrative is vague, and those unfamiliar with the game will struggle to figure out what’s going on. The film is also way too long to be so vague; it’s a horrible film going experience to struggle for nearly an hour of the film’s running time not really understanding the concept or central idea. On the other hand, Silent Hill has a lot of superbly creepy atmosphere, and it bears more than a striking resemblance to the paintings and drawings of Clive Barker, a noted horror novelist who is not as well known as an artist. It’s not often that a movie so ably captures what it’s like to be trapped in a nightmare – knowing you have to wake up but you can’t escape the hideous and repulsive monsters your mind has created. Akira Yamaoka (who scored the game series) and Jeff Danna’s music for the film combines eerie synth notes and beats with random noises and sound effects to create the perfectly chilling horror flick score. However, for all its genuine chills, Silent Hill is ultimately a mediocre flick worth a rental. It could have been memorable, if only the filmmakers didn’t act as if all of us (video gamers and non gamers) should already know what’s going on before we take a seat in the local theatre.

4 of 10
C

Wednesday, May 10, 2006