The Rules of Attraction Movie Review 2002

Follows a group of shallow, overprivileged, drug-addled college students apparently attending Hedonism University. Drug dealer Sean (Van Der Beek) is in lust with campus goddess Lauren (Sossamon). Lauren's bisexual ex-boyfriend Paul (Somerhalder) has a crush on the straight Sean. Lauren yearns for Victor (Pardue), a coked up vacationing druggie who once slept with Paul. As a result of this turmoil, everyone does drugs and sleeps with everyone else. Avary uses many production tricks and a fluctuating timeline in order to convey the feeling of the Bret Easton Ellis novel on which the movie is based. The technique works, especially the fast-forward view of Victor's trip, but the characters are so unlikable that none of them deserves to get what they want.

Distribution

CinemaNow, 4553 Glencoe Ave., Ste. 200, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292, URL: http://www.cinemanow.com, Remarks: Formerly known as Lions Gate Home Entertainment

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 104 minutes.
Originally from United States.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Books to Film: Bret Easton Ellis, Campus Capers, Sexcapades, Smuggler's Blues, Flashback, The First Time, Bisexuality, Suicide

Screenplay

Roger Roberts Avary

Cast

James Van Der Beek, Ian Somerhalder, Shannyn Sossamon, Jessica Biel, Kip Pardue, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Kate (Catherine) Bosworth, Fred Savage, Eric Stoltz, Clifton (Gonzalez) Collins, Faye Dunaway, Swoosie Kurtz, Russell Sams, Matthew Lang

Cinematography

Robert Brinkmann

Director

Roger Roberts Avary

Music

Tomandandy

Other

Felipe Borrero, Sharon Rutter, Christopher Tanden, Louise Frogley, Sharon Seymour

Producer

Greg Shapiro, Kingsgate Films, Lions Gate Films