The Rules of Attraction (2002)

Number Rolled: 39

Movie Name/Year: The Rules of Attraction (2002)

Genre: Independent

Length: 110 minutes

Rating: R

Director: Roger Avary

Writer: Bret Easton Ellis, Roger Avary

Actors: James Van Der Beek, Shannyn Sossamon, Jessica Biel, Kip Pardue, Kate Bosworth, Ian Somerhalder, Joel Michaely, Jay Baruchel, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Clifton Collins Jr., Clare Kramer, Eric Stoltz, Fred Savage, Eric Szmanda, Anderson Goncalves, Chasen Hampton, Ron Jeremy

Sean Bateman, Lauren Hynde and Paul Denton’s lives intersect at the End of the World Party. Difficulties, misunderstandings and bonds intertwine until they are destined to be in their certain paths that day. This film follows the three students and their sexual escapades throughout a few weeks at Camden College.

In 2002, if James Van Der Beek was in a movie, it was easy to write it off as a coming of age thing or a romance; especially since he was still filming Dawson’s Creek at the time. I cannot stress this enough, however, this is not a romance or a coming of age story. There are all kind of mature themes in this film: death, violence, sex, rape, and the list goes on. If you’re looking for a light-hearted easy-going gentle-themed movie, you might want to skip over this misleading title.

As dark and dirty as this movie is, I absolutely adored it. The actors are great at their insane or psychotic characters and the plot is relatively in depth. There are spectacular twists in the story and the script is almost like a dark epic poem.

I think “The Rules of Attraction” is a great dark film that hits a lot of the right marks. Some of the scenes run a bit too long and some of the faces are little overacted, but it’s forgivable in my eyes because the rest of it is just that good.

Netflix’s Prediction for Me – 2.7/5

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 43%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 71%

Trust-the-Dice Score – 3.5/5

P.S. The “Sean Bateman” character in this movie is actually the little brother of the character “Patrick Bateman” in the movie “American Psycho.” It’s not said in the movies, but it is a fact from the books.

Movie Trailer: