Posted: 10/12/2002

The Rules of Attraction

(2002)

by Hank Yuloff

Indescribable. In a good way.

This movie was a disturbing peek into a world I knew nothing about. When I went to college, I knew drugs were around, but I wasn’t into them so never walked down the hall of my dorm asking if anyone had any pot (or coke, or whatever else we ingest to get high or come down). Rules of Attraction takes a look at a bizarre sexual triangle between Paul (gay male), who wants Sean (druggie turned dealer), who wants Lauren (virgin who keeps herself from having sex by looking at a book filled with pictures of venereal diseases).

Let’s break this down by some of the parts.

James Van Der Beek stars as Sean Bateman. After 5 years of watching him as Dawson Leary in Dawson’s Creek, it’s a little hard not to type cast him as the puppy dog kind of guy who FINALLY got to sleep with Joey Potter (how was it Dawson - bet it was good, wasn’t it? Yeah, boy). In RoA, he is a college sophomore who does so many drugs that he can’t remember the last time he had sex when he wasn’t high. He does so many drugs that in order to pay off his dealer, he starts to deal drugs (he is so bad at it). We get lots of close ups of his brooding face, complete with huge forehead and protruding eyebrows. I guess that is supposed to give us a closer insight into what he is feeling.

Director Roger Avary (Killing Zoe) did an AMAZING job. He gave us his set-up scene and instead of just flashing back to earlier that year, he literally backs the film up so we could see how we got there. He uses this technique several times and it helped the story move forward. There were also some cute camera tricks that kept my interest by focusing on the fact that something different and important was about to happen. Visually, this was a very pleasing film. Another section of the film describes one of the character’s trip to Europe. It is shown in fast-forward with the sped up narration just barely keeping up. You are hearing about drugs and sexual encounters that titillate but the pictures go by too fast to get satisfaction. He threw a great change up in the middle of an at bat. He also gives us insight into many of the characters by allowing us to hear the narration going on in their heads.

From this we learn exactly how shallow most of their thoughts were and how their basic desires were their driving force. Kudos to Avary.

The Girls: Shannyn Sossamon (A Knight’s Tale) is Lauren, the virgin who is spending a lot of time deciding who will deflower her while her roommate, Lara (Jessica Biel from Summer Catch) spends as much time deciding who she won’t sleep with. We all wanted to know more Laras. Kate Bosworth (Blue Crush) is advertised as being a star in this flick but she is only around for a couple of scenes and would have been completely replaceable. A prime example of using someone for their last role.

Acting: Top rate performances all over this movie. Ian Somerhalder as Paul is great. A homosexual who is so obviously in love with Dawson (I mean Sean) but still willing to take what he can get. What he gets is an old boyfriend Richard (“That’s DICK. My name is DICK.”) played wonderfully by Russell Sams (What Matters Most). I loved the 10 minutes he was in the film. Clifton Collins Jr. (Traffic) is also great playing Dawson’s (I mean Sean’s) dealer. His first soliloquy has more “fucks” than any of my previous reviews (See Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back), and he uses the word as a noun, adjective, pronoun, adverb… A work of art…Enough to make any English teacher proud. Wasted in this flick are cameos by Swoosie Kurtz (Cruel Intentions), and Faye Dunaway (The Yards, Bonnie & Clyde). Both are way to good to have the stupid, vapid parts they played. And why was Eric Stoltz in this picture? He needs larger parts that entail more than getting Sossamon’s character to give him oral sex.

Music: Though this movie is clearly placed in current time, the music is all over the place. We heard tons of 70’s disco and pop. Very unnerving to the mind because it doesn’t “belong” in this time period. Another excellent movie element inserted by Avary.

Rules of Attraction keeps you off balance. It is a very unsettling. As I said at the top, I know from a generational point of view I’m out of the target and socially I never interacted here but it was not difficult to become involved. There were things that happened that I wish I had experienced, like the ‘Dress Like You Want To Get Laid’ party. That certainly worked. I don’t know if I would want my pre-college kids to see it without me being there, but for the adults (it earns and deserves its R rating) it is a must-see.

Hank Yuloff is an advertising guy in Los Angeles who certainly knows good visuals when he sees them. Especially when bare breasts are involved.

Got a problem? E-mail us at filmmonthly@gmail.com