The Rules of Attraction (2002)

Though 2002's The Rules of Attraction bills itself as "From the corrupt minds that brought you 'Pulp Fiction' and 'American Psycho,'" I wouldn't go in expecting the magic that director Roger Avary (co-writer of Pulp Fiction, though I understand that claim is a little sketchy) and source novelist Bret Easton Ellis (who also wrote the American Psycho novel) offered up in their earlier projects.

That isn't to say that The Rules of Attraction is wholly without redemption. A fundamental problem with the movie is that its characters not only are for the most part unlikable, but they demand not to be liked.

The character map sounds like something Shakespearean in scope. Sean Bateman (James Van Der Beek) brother of American Psycho Patrick Bateman) is a self-proclaimed "emotional vampire" who falls in love with Lauren (an endearing Shannyn Sossamon), whom he believes is writing him purple love notes filled with glitter. But Lauren is really in love with Victor (Kip Pardue), a sex- and drug-addled student taking a semester abroad. Lauren's roommate Lara (Jessica Biel way-back-when) is similarly promiscuous, though she has her eye on Sean - as does Paul (Ian Somerhalder, alias Boone from Lost), a depressed homosexual looking for Mr. Right.

With the partial exception of Lauren, no character was sympathetic enough for me to grow attached to. Where Patrick Bateman (as portrayed brilliantly by Christian Bale) was an oddly enjoyable anti-hero, Sean tries his hardest to be unlikeable, having no-strings-attached sex and dealing drugs without any concern for the lives he hurts around him. An Ellis trope, to be sure, but at least Bale made Patrick Bateman compelling. In fact, all the performances are heavily laced with ennui. That's not to say that the performances are boring, but rather the characters are extremely bored, which makes a difficult viewing experience. The actors involved all do a great job personifying this disillusionment (especially Somerhalder, though I find myself asking why it seems Lost destroyed what could have been a promising career), but it's distracting to have characters so vapid that I can't pay attention.

Avary's direction is also distracting. Though imaginative the first few times it's employed, Avary's repeated use of reversing the film - playing scenes backwards - is wholly overused, seeming tired and cliche by the end. Perhaps this is a stylistic point Avary tries to make, but he doesn't make it well. One style feature used well here is the typically-Ellis first-person narration, in which characters freely speak their minds in the present tense to give a better sense of what's going on. Again, though, Bale did it better; the narration here sometimes verges on Kevin Costner's turn as the brutally dull narrator of Dances with Wolves.

I'm not sure I can in good faith recommend this movie. The point of a film is to get the audience engaged, and The Rules of Attraction tries profusely to make its characters despondently inaccessible. If you're up for a challenge, though, try to get thoroughly attached to one of the characters.

Lauren melting your heart doesn't count, though.