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The Rules of Attraction (2002)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers (WGA):
Release Date:
11 October 2002 (USA)
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Tagline:
There Are No Rules more
Plot:
The incredibly spoiled and overprivileged students of Camden College are a backdrop for an unusual love triangle between a drug dealer, a virgin and a bisexual classmate. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
College
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Drugs
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Bisexual
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Drug Dealer
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Love Triangle
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Awards:
1 win
&
1 nomination
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NewsDesk:
(20 articles)
Pulp Fiction writer tweets on life in prison
(From The Guardian - Film News. 24 November 2009, 9:56 AM, PST)
News: Jessica Biel Engaging in Filth!
(From HeyUGuys. 29 October 2009, 9:26 AM, PDT)
(From The Guardian - Film News. 24 November 2009, 9:56 AM, PST)
News: Jessica Biel Engaging in Filth!
(From HeyUGuys. 29 October 2009, 9:26 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
You better bring back change; Daddy wants change
The Rules of Attraction
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Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| James Van Der Beek | ... | Sean Bateman | |
| Shannyn Sossamon | ... | Lauren Hynde | |
| Jessica Biel | ... | Lara | |
| Kip Pardue | ... | Victor | |
| Kate Bosworth | ... | Kelly | |
| Ian Somerhalder | ... | Paul Denton | |
| Joel Michaely | ... | Raymond | |
| Jay Baruchel | ... | Harry | |
| Thomas Ian Nicholas | ... | Mitchell | |
| Clifton Collins Jr. | ... | Rupert | |
| Clare Kramer | ... | Candice | |
| Faye Dunaway | ... | Mrs. Denton | |
| Swoosie Kurtz | ... | Mrs. Jared | |
| Russell Sams | ... | Richard | |
| Colin Bain | ... | Donald |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Die Regeln des Spiels (Germany)
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MPAA:
Rated R for strong sexual content, drug use, language and violent images. (edited from original NC-17 version)
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
110 min
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
UK:18 (cut) |
South Korea:18 |
Argentina:18 |
Australia:R |
Brazil:18 |
Canada:18A |
Finland:K-18 |
France:-16 |
Germany:16 |
Hong Kong:III |
Iceland:16 |
New Zealand:R18 |
Norway:15 |
Portugal:M/16 |
Singapore:R(A) |
Spain:18 |
Sweden:15 |
USA:NC-17 (original rating) |
USA:R (edited for re-rating) (certificate #39352) |
Mexico:C
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Goofs:
Continuity: In the split screen sequence, when Sean meats Lauren in the corridor, she takes off his glasses, but when the screens join she's clearly standing too far away to have been able to reach them.
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Quotes:
Movie Connections:
References Walking Tall (1973)
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Soundtrack:
Lust to Love
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FAQ
Was "The End of the World" party scene really filmed on September 11th, 2001?What is meant to be said before and after the opening and closing dialogues?
Does the move go from spring to winter, or are the events in a more random order?
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After viewing The Rules of Attraction, one can definitely see how Roger Avary and Quentin Tarantino were friends. Upon leaving their jobs as video store clerks, the two went out and did Reservoir Dogs together, before collaborating on Pulp Fiction. Tarantino took all the credit for those two movies, basically striking Avary out of Dogs completely and only giving him story credit for Pulp. With Rules of Attraction, one sees that there was probably more influence on both films. While this adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' novel contains many clichéd style maneuvers, they all work effectively in telling the tale. Multiple uses of rewind, spilt screen, and the re-showing of events could have been a drastic failure of cheap trickery with less able hands. Here, though, Avary shows some skill and uses everything to further advance a complicated tapestry of story lines and encounters from the stellar cast of young up-and-comers.
This is a story about a weekend of college partying at Camden. We have co-eds of all grades, races, and sexual orientation weaving in and out of each other's lives, going from party to party, having altercations, conversations, and a lot of casual sex. James Van Der Beek is actually really quite good breaking out of his good boy image from WB-fare casting. His performance really makes me wish his sanitized image didn't warrant Todd Solondz from cutting his arc from the disturbingly good Storytelling. Shannon Sossamon does admirably as the confused girl rooming with a slut, doing drugs, but wanting to stay pure for the man of her dreams. It is this conflicting nature that runs rampant throughout each character's existence. The dry, cynical humor prevalent in another Ellis adaptation, American Psycho, carries through here as well. Without so much satire from that film, Rules reaches an absurdity at times that makes you think back to your college days and the craziness and emotional stupidity you remember seeing from those surrounding you.
I give Avary a lot of credit for his sense of detail too. The soundtrack enhances each scene, where it is used, effectively, most noticeably with the hilarious juxtaposition of Ian Somerhalder and Russell Sams dancing and lip-synching to a George Michael song on a hotel bed with their mothers in the dining hall swapping prescription drugs between sips of vodka. Little scenes like seeing a suicide being lifted into an ambulance, students crying all around, with a girl hitting on one of the police officers in the foreground are brilliant. Avary makes the viewer never take a break as there is no telling what he/she might miss. Also, the casting choices are superb in every instance. Clifton Collins Jr. is menacingly funny as a drug supplier, Eric Stoltz creepily spot-on in a small role, Faye Dunnaway hamming it up in the aforementioned hotel dining scene, and Fred Savage in a gem of a cameo.
Even when you think the gimmicks are through, and we have linear storyline normality, we are treated to a fast-paced recap of Kip Pardue's character's trip to Europe. The matter-of- fact nature in which the sequence is narrated during its quick cut montage is great. Supposedly this footage was edited into a bridge film called Gliterrati, to connect Rules to a future film adaptation of Ellis' Glamorama. Unfortunately it has not been released in its full form and Glamorama has been removed from Avary's slate of upcoming films. Either way, The Rules of Attraction allows for the hope that we will see more Ellis-based films. If nothing else I can't wait to break into the collection of his works sitting unopened on my bookshelf, waiting to be read for the past year or so.