Rules of Attraction [Blu-ray]

Import Blu-Ray/Region All pressing. Please note while the feature film is viewable on all Blu-Ray players the special features are in Standard Definition/PAL format and will not be viewable on US BR players. The Rules Of Attraction, based on the novel by Bret Easton Ellis, stars James Van Der Beek as Sean Bateman, campus drug-dealer and 24-hour-a-day reveler at affluent Camden College. A senior at the New England school, Sean is caught up in a nihilistic love triangle. He has a crush on Lauren (Shannyn Sossamon), an arty virgin who is saving herself for a vapid, vacationing ex-boyfriend, while Paul (Ian Somerhalder), a beautiful bisexual, has a crush on Sean. Every night is a party at Camden, where students celebrate with a "dress to get screwed" theme and teachers appear more often on the dance floor than in the classroom. Equal parts fantasy and reality, The Rules Of Attraction is a deeply observant, daring anti-establishment film.

A not-quite dazzling array of cinematic tricks (split screens, freeze-frames, running the film backwards, rapid editing, etc.) are used to depict college students floundering in the pursuit of love and meaning. Drugs, blow jobs, pornography, booze, rape, masturbation, '80s pop tunes, beatings, suicide, attempted suicide, faked suicide, loss of bladder control, and trite pseudo-philosophy are on display as pretty young actors with squeaky-clean images (like James Van Der Beek and Jessica Biel) attempt to dirty themselves up. The Rules of Attraction comes to life for about five minutes when an actor named Russell Sams appears for an outrageous restaurant scene, then slumps back into terminal disaffection when he departs. Also featuring Shannyn Sossamon, Faye Dunaway, Swoozie Kurtz, Ian Somerhalder, Kate Bosworth, Eric Stolz, Fred Savage, and many strikingly good-looking young people. The filmmakers are attempting to depict the vacuousness of today's youth but only succeed in portraying the void in their own hearts. --Bret Fetzer