When “Saved by the Bell”‘s flighty feminist Jessi Spano evolved into a scandalous “Showgirl,” TV viewers were shaken, to say the least.
Director Roger Avary (Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction” cohort) capitalizes on this same shock value in his latest, “The Rules of Attraction,” which transforms tame teen favorites James Van Der Beek (“Dawson’s Creek”) and Jessica Biel (“7th Heaven”) into sex-crazed druggies who pursue hedonism at any cost–and they can definitely afford it. This adaptation of famed 1980s novelist Bret Easton Ellis’ hyperbolic satire is an amusing and entrancing look at wealthy collegians who live to sin.
Van Der Beek’s “O”-face and Biel’s squeals during their sex scene definitely result in weirded-out winces from the oddly enthralled audience, and the movie is ultimately not much more than a comic social commentary. While the novel was set in the ’80s, the height of the unwarranted capitalism central to all of Ellis’ novels-turned-movies including “Less than Zero” and “American Psycho,” Avary chooses a contemporary setting for “Rules,” but otherwise remains faithful to Ellis.
Van Der Beek plays Sean Bateman, the less-maniacal brother of Patrick, Christian Bale’s “American Psycho” character. Unlike his brother the murderer, Sean masters the more moral arts of drug dealing and seduction, becoming a hotter commodity than the coke he pushes at the pretentious but hardly prestigious Camden College.
Among his admirers are Paul (Ian Somerhalder, “Life as a House”), who seems a little too Mango-ish to be the bi guy he claims to be, and a secret admirer with whom Sean falls madly in love, assuming she’s Paul’s sweet virgin ex, Lauren (Shannyn Sossamon, “40 Days and 40 Nights”). Lauren, however, loves her ex Victor (Kip Pardue, “Remember the Titans”), who’s jet-setting around Europe trying to expand his horizons through mixed drinks and techno beats.
Further complicating the web of temptation are familiar faces Biel, Fred Savage (“Goldmember”) and Thomas Ian Nicholas (“American Pie 2”). However, these kids don’t lack adult intervention.
Eric Stoltz, an Avary alum from “Killing Zoe” and “Pulp Fiction,” blends in with his students as the sleazily cool professor who attends their parties, smokes their drugs and enjoys their sexual advances. Of course, the poor, rich, drunk mothers swoop in via Swoosie Kurtz and Faye Dunaway. All deliver believable performances as self-obsessed egotists.
In general, “Rules” shows a world not completely far-fetched. Sean has more notches on his bed than Wilt Chamberlain from girls he’ll never remember but who love him nonetheless. Victor documents his trip with a visually stimulating whirlwind of models, monuments and the drugs accompanying each European experience.
While actual college students don’t take this much for granted, they do use leisure to escape pressures. They also often have altered perceptions of their relationships (you may have a “best friend” who considers you “some guy”). Since “Rules”‘ characters use sinful pursuits as a way of life rather than diversions, though, it’s easy to laugh at their irrationality, knowing you’re never that bad.
Avary has created a hilarious material world as devoid of meaning as his characters’ empty egos. Not only does he exploit their utter lack of reality through absurdly funny scenes (the gem is Somerhalder and company in their own lavish hotel room, boxer-brief karaoke version of George Michael’s “Faith”), but he also uses clever camera work to woo the audience.
Split screens, close-ups on greedy, orgasmic expressions, Victor’s vacation montage, and backward footage all heighten the experience without adding much significance.
While the film is saturated with convincing acting, some sick and twisted humor, eye-catching camera tricks and several instances of “Dawson did what?!” in a captivating orgy of excess and exploitation, it ultimately goes nowhere, despite an attempt to send a moral message.
“The Rules of Attraction” is, in the end, exactly like its characters–fun to watch, but with little else to offer, except proof that Dawson truly is a wild sex fiend.
Grade: B
