The main characters are not always as interesting or well presented as they should be, so its very hard to care about them that much. You kind of know their particular plight, without them having to spell it out, but some insight into each person might not have hurt too much. Each character narrates a large part of their own story. However, the director does a lot with the material to keep it lively. You get split screens, backwards running film, slow motion, etc. and it fits the subject perfectly. Cameos are interesting, to say the least - its not every movie where you get to see Fred Savage strung out, or see an insane emergency room doctor. Eric Stoltz, Faye Dunaway and Swoozie Kurtz are also aboard but don't stay around for too long. The character Kip Pardue plays, Victor, gets a bit of a raw deal, as he's seen in the beginning for a minute, then again at the end, when you get a video diary, of sorts, of his escapades around Europe. In the book he's handled differently. I like Kip, who played Sunshine in "Remember the Titans" and was also in that stupid race car movie with Sly Stallone and Burt Reynolds. I had a shrink hypnotize me so I'd forget the name of that one, but Kip was in it, that much I remember. My favorite character by light years is Richard (sorry...he prefers Dick, and loves saying it), who's a friend/lover of Paul (Ian Somerhalder, who's great). Dick is in the movie for about ten minutes but makes a lasting impression, dancing on a hotel bed with Paul to the strains of George Michael's "Faith", then having a hysterically funny scene in the hotel w/Paul and their Moms. NO ONE in the movie is as much fun as Dick, and I was a bit letdown when he exited. He seemed to have a wild sense of humor about how screwed up he was. I've seen this about five times by now. I don't love it, and I have some problems with some of the overkill, but I like it a lot. 7/10.

This is a movie that will sicken many people. Roger Avary faced a massive challenge when deciding to direct a film of Bret Easton Ellis' complex and hallucinary book. The book has no narrative focus, no beginning or end and focuses on a group of selfish, morally ambiguous characters. The story deals with drugs, rape, homosexuality,and obsessions of every kind, and despite Lion's Gate's best efforts to market the movie as a american pie-lite slice o' college life- the movie bombed in America.

However i feel that there is much in this movie to commend. While the movie provides its central characters with zero morals, it never paints its youths as all smiling jocks in way american pie did with paper-thin characters such as the "stiffmeister". While the "pie" movies were just funny, this one has its darkly funny moments intermixed with scenes of tragedy and sadness. Don't think teen movie when choosing to see this film, you should be thinking more of Fight Club. These charachters are apathetic lost souls, people who we should be wary of becoming. This is a movie without resolution or love, but it is one worth seeing.

Avary scores a slam-dunk with the brilliant forwards-backwards beginning which manages to stay faithful to the spirit of the source material, whilst also being stylish and exciting to watch. Also a scene where an obsessive admirer of Sean (James' Van Der Beek's character) choses to end her life is as emotionally devastating as anything i have seen in the cinema for a long time. Avary deploys his camera very cleverly in this scene, and it never appears too graphic. This scene in particular really captures the essence of Ellis's book, as does Victor's thrilling trip round Europe. I was however disappointed that Paul's character had been cut down so much. Many fantastic scenes between Paul and Sean are missing from the book, rendering the relationship between the two conventional and flat. The major drawback of the film was that it often felt like a collection of great scenes stuck together without enough glue between them. I think if the movie had run ten minutes longer, or some of the scenes with Rupert, Sean's Dealer had been cut in length, then this movie would have worked better. I must add that i loved the soundtrack and it was one of the best i have heard since The Royal Tennenbaums. Lastly, special commendation must go to James Van Der Beek's excellent portrayal of Sean, the film's shark-eyed, drug-dealing lead. He really suprised me, as i hated this casting decision at first.

An incisive perspective on the demise of romance and dating in college culture, with a deep dive into how that affects privileged kids at a liberal arts college. The Rules of Attraction is an insightful social commentary on the death of romance and mocks pretentious, self-absorbed, wealthy students who are too vapid and devoid of any meaning/anything worth caring about in their college lives. The dark humor is solid and the three lead performances (James Van Der Beek, Shannyn Sossamon, and Ian Somerhalder) are fantastic! And the eclectic music selection really heightens the atmosphere, emotions (or lack of) in each scene. Side note: the Richard "Dick" scenes are a laugh riot.

This film earns its cult following. The Rules of Attraction is worth a watch or occasional repeat viewings.