Rules Of Attraction (2002)

RULES OF ATTRACTION (2002)

Dir: Roger Avary

Please release Glitterati (2004). This is one of those ‘lost’ films that will not see the light of day. Sure, you can be part of the celebrity elite and see this at a personal screening at Avary’s home, but beyond that, it’ll remain hidden. They cite reasons of ethics due to the production. It was guerrilla filmmaking with Kip Pardue staying in character as Victor from Rules of Attraction and the hoped production of Glamorama. Pardue convinces women to sleep with him and debauchery ensues. I may be naïve, but if you are filming and intending to use the footage for a project, I’m sure you attained a waiver or release. And if that’s the case, what is unethical? If all was consented to, if everyone was of age, and everyone photographed understood they were being photographed why can’t the film be released? These are honest questions I have.

The reason I wish to see Glitterati is because The Rules Of Attraction is a masterpiece in filmmaking and anything extra there is to see associated with it, must be seen. I first read and saw Rules while in film school. I knew who Roger Avary was. I loved Killing Zoe (1994) and of course knew his involvement with Quentin Tarantino for Pulp Fiction (1994). I saw Rules in our art-house theater with only a few attendees opening night. It altered me. The technical prowess of the filmmaking, the Tomandandy score, the luscious 80’s soundtrack, and f*cking Dawson Leery all hit me on a gut level. I was studying existential philosophy – which ironically, I quit showing up for and failed because I found the class meaningless – and I was in love with the film’s glib nihilism from frame one. “and it’s a story that might bore you but you don’t have to listen…,” begins the novel and film. The opening sentence is 13 lines long with 21 commas and a parenthetical statement. The novel begins and ends in the middle of a sentence showing a meaninglessness for the characters and an apathy for their world at large. For a novel that experiments with structure at every turn, a film was needed that would also break convention.

Avary perfectly places page to screen, with one minor caveat. Sure, I could be talking about how Sean and Lauren have sex and debate abortion before Sean leaves her, but no. I’m okay with their non-relationship never being consummated in the film. However, there is a sexual encounter of Sean’s that has always bothered me in the film. In Paul’s chapters, he discusses at length, the intimacy between Bateman and himself. While Sean never mentions any tryst with Paul, Sean doesn’t mention much about his current life, and he’s an unreliable narrator. Avary uses a split screen to show Paul masturbating while Sean’s in his room on one side while the other side shows Paul and Sean hooking up. This is a great way to show the ambiguity of the situation, but when the split screen ends we have a full screen of Paul finishing his masturbation. This could have been way more affected had Avary cut from split screen to the morning after. The trimming of 2 seconds could provide all the ambiguity needed for the Paul and Sean section of the love triangle. Other than those 2 seconds, the film is perfect.

The cast in Rules is phenomenal: James Van Der Beek, Ian Somerhalder, Shannyn Sossamon, Jessica Biel, Kip Pardue, Kate Bosworth, Jay Baruchel, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Clifton Collins Jr., Faye Dunaway, Swoosie Kurtz, Eric Stoltz, and Fred Savage. Holy sh*t! Each of them get a moment of absurd comedy. Faye Dunaway and Swoosie Kurtz get to share pills, "Does it matter what they are?" Fred Savage gets to play a junkie named Marc who shoots heroine and, "I can feel my d*ck." Kip Pardue has an unbelievable 4 minute montage of chaos. Clifton Collins Jr. gets to tell James Van Der Beek how much he needs him. "I need you like I need an *sshole on my elbow. An *sshole, right here." And Paul Williams gets a great cameo where he tells Jay Baruchel he's dead. "Harry's gone bye-bye, he's gone to the big bye-bye. He's got his name in the papers on the back side. It's "Toe Tag Time in Teenville Tonight". Again. Should've just said no, Harry."