Rules of Attraction

A dark, brooding and self-conscious take on Bret Easton Ellis' novel of youthful narcissism and alienation, Roger Avary's The Rules of Attraction takes itself and its characters far too seriously (and literally) to be effective. In a crisp performance, James Van Der Beek throws his Dawson's Creek persona to one side and concentrates his energies into playing an amoral drug dealer called Sean Bateman. The younger brother of American Psycho's Patrick, Sean may not be spending his evenings murdering prostitutes with chainsaws (yet), but he's hardly what you'd call well-adjusted. That doesn't stop Lauren (Sossamon) a virginal undergrad or her former boyfriend, the now openly gay Paul (Somerhalder) holding candles for him. Recounted in reverse, The Rules of Attraction follows these three self-absorbed characters as they negotiate what they see as the sheer meaninglessness of life, love and sometimes - shock, horror! - college. Man.

Whatever his other faults (and they are numerous), Ellis' writing does have a healthy streak of humour, buried deep within it. Yet Avary's adaptation is far too literal - he takes everything the author writes at face value and seems reluctance to ascribe any emotional depth or complexity to the characters or their dilemmas. Thus, the result is a sleek and reasonably well acted film but one that doesn't really seem to work on any level beyond the purely aesthetical. It holds your attention but at the end you'll wonder what the point of The Rules of Attraction actually was.