Apt Pupil Movie Review 1997

In 1984, high school senior Todd Bowden (Renfro) becomes fascinated by the Holocaust during a school project and is able to discern from an old photo that neighbor Kurt Dussander (McKellen) was a Nazi concentration camp commander and is a war criminal. Todd agrees to keep quiet if the old man will tell exactly what he did during the war. But Dussander hasn't stayed quiet all these years to have his secrets revealed by a nosy teen, so Todd gets an up close and personal lesson about the nature of evil. Very creepy adaptation of the Stephen King novella with a standout performance by McKellen.

Distribution

Sony Pictures Home Video, Sony Pictures Plz., 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232, Phone: (310)244-7306, Fax: (310)280-2485, URL: http://www.spe.sony.com, Remarks: Formerly Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 111 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Teen Angst, Nazis & Other Paramilitary Slugs, Not-So-True Identity, Books to Film: Stephen King, High School, Period Piece: 1980s

Screenplay

Brandon Boyce

Cast

Ian McKellen, Brad Renfro, Jan Triska, Bruce Davison, Joe Morton, Elias Koteas, David Schwimmer, Michael Byrne, Heather McComb, Ann Dowd, Joshua Jackson, Michael Artura

Cinematography

Newton Thomas (Tom) Sigel

Director

Bryan Singer

Music

John Ottman

Producer

Jane Hamsher, Bryan Singer, Don Murphy, Tim Harbert, TriStar Pictures, Phoenix Films, Sony Pictures