Talent abounds in film about excess
By Jane Muhlstein
A girl is raped in an upstairs bedroom while nearby college students binge drink, snort cocaine and choose the night's sexual partners. The opening scenes of "The Rules of Attraction" are graphic, disturbing and indicative of the rest of the film.
Written and directed by Roger Avary ("Killing Zoe," "Pulp Fiction"), "Rules" is based on a book written in the late 1980s by Bret Easton Ellis. The film has been adapted to the present at the fictional liberal arts school Camden College.
The primary plot involves a love triangle between campus drug dealer Sean Bateman (James Van Der Beek), virginal Lauren Hynde (Shannyn Sossamon) and her bisexual ex-boyfriend Paul Denton (Ian Somerhalder). Paul has a crush on Sean. Sean doesn't realize that Paul mistakenly believes they are dating and spends all his time trying to pay back his suppliers and pining away for Lauren. Meanwhile, she is saving herself for a former boyfriend who is spending the term in Europe.
While these three attempt to sort out their relationships, they interact with numerous smaller characters make up the sordid world of spoiled young adults at Camden College. The story of these students is one of absolute excess. They have been exposed to too much money, too much sex, too many drugs and are now completely jaded.
This is perfectly exemplified just after Lauren's old boyfriend Victor returns from Europe. In a cinematically impressive scene, Victor (Kip Pardue) gives his friends a summary of his trip in a monotonous, disinterested tone as images of his exploits flash by rapidly. He recalls experimentation with exotic drugs, sexual escapades with foreign models and visits to overrated tourist attractions with the same attitude of boredom and disinterest.
"Rules" conveys the theme of excess quite successfully in its plot, but also in its overtly graphic nature. While some nudity and explicit drug use seem appropriate telling the story, the content Avary has chosen to show often teeters on the border of excess itself. In one early scene, Sean casually asks for money from a strung out student, played by Fred Savage, who is shooting up heroin between his toes. In another, Sean attends a typical college theme party in which most of the girls are walking around the house topless. This footage does leave the audience with a powerful sense of the characters' self-indulgences. However, some of these scenes are overkill and the movie would not likely have suffered if Avary had chosen to spare the audience a bit of the gluttony.
The most pleasant surprise out of "Rules" is the talent of the young cast. Van Der Beek, an actor best known as the star of Dawson's Creek, and Seventh Heaven's Jessica Biel (Lauren's roommate) took advantage of the opportunity to break out of their WB teen idol roles. Van Der Beek, particularly, pulls of a wonderful performance as a much darker, more complex character than he has ever played in the past. He proves in "Rules" that he will surely have a promising film career independent of Dawson's Creek.
Even if the audience finds it difficult to empathize with the amoral characters, the edgy style and witty script hold interest throughout "The Rules of Attraction." It is a solid film that, although it often leaves audience shocked, conveys a relevant message without evident preaching. Avary has had considerable success with his previous projects, but he may have just made his best film yet. B+