Review of Less Than Zero (1987) by Gordon T — 29 Sep 2012

Reminds me of The Graduate and vice versa . . .

Both The Graduate and Less than Zero feature aimless youth (both Less than Zero and the Graduate have Simon and Garfunkel tunes over main credits).

HARROWING yet highly criticized adaption of the "unfilmable" Bret Easton Ellis novel of the same name.

The novel seems like a lot of "fade-in" and "fade-out" plot-less vignettes of high-life in shallow LA; a little like THE GREAT GATSBY written by a high-class cocaine-addict. In the novel, CLAY'S on drugs, BLAIR'S on drugs, yet JULIAN is "more on-drugs" than BLAIR or CLAY; Clay's appalled at the male-prostitute Julian has become and leaves to head Back East to University. Its a very amoral book.

In the film adaption, Clay returns and no longer does drugs, Clay convinces Blair to stop doing cocaine and both Clay and Blair try very hard to save their friend Julian who owes Rip the Village -Dealer $50,000.00.

Julian is too strung-out to "get himself together enough" to pay Rip off and Rip turns Julian into a male prostitute to "work-off" the money he owes Rip. A lot better than the book;.

Well, the book makes an excellent novel but would SUCK as a movie . . . it would be TRAINSPOTTING a decade too early if "they" adapted the book straight.

By giving the characters goals (to stop Julian from self-annihilation before its too late), the movie's plot has a greater sense of purpose that the novel seems to lack.

--its like, the novel seems to try to shock the audience by exposing the audience to a totally ALIEN drug universe of LA while the film depicts people trying to ESCAPE OUT OF THE ALIEN DRUG-UNIVERSE OF LA instead of depicting what living in an ALIEN DRUG UNIVERSE is like.

My bud said LESS THAN ZERO is a propaganda film like REFEER MADNESS; and the novel's author BRET EASTON ELLIS was "too embarrassed to attend the film's world premier;" in the novel the characters all had blond hair and in the movie the characters were brunettes; Brett Easton Ellis has since "forgiven" the film saying that LESS THAN ZERO is the only film that documents the LA CLUB SCENE.

As Roger Ebert says, "the performances are indeed flawless, especially James Spader as the villainous RIP.".

Robert Downey Jr. is SPELLBINDING as JULIAN; thanks to seeing Robert Downey Jr. in action, so to speak, on THE ACTOR"S STUDIO its easy to see why and how Robert SURVIVES.

Robert unconsciously self-hypnotizes himself INTO becoming the character he's portraying in the film; he seems to LAUNCH himself into, or step-into the mind, body, and soul of the character he's portraying--in CHAPLIN, Robert "LAUNCHED" into a perfect ballet minuet while personifying CHARLIE CHAPLIN. TOTALLY AMAZING and MEMORIZING.

Through this GENIUS of being able to "shape-shift," "soul-shift," and morph into completely different characters, DOWNY SURVIVES!!!

For instance, on the ACTOR'S STUDIO Robert said he was doing a lot of "Black Tar Heroin" (drugs that usually kill people), yet, when JODY FOSTER summoned DOWNY to the set, unconsciously, Downey "launches" or "lunges" out of the aspect of himself that is high on Black Tar Heroin and INTO a completely different "non-high" persona (or character) of the cousin in the JODIE FOSTER film.

Robert Downy Junior is a true GENIUS who's brain seems to have been created for him to be an interchangeable human chameleon . . . a perfect illustration of an actor (the ability to literally become someone else while occupying the same body).

Drunks do it to a much lesser extent; some-one may be able to drink eight beers yet still seem and act and operate as though they're totally sober. Its like, they are able to make their brain convince their body that its not drunk; hence: THE TRUE POWER OF IMAGINATION;.

A fire-walker will not burn his soles on the red-hot coals because he is able to convince himself physiologically that he will not burn.

Robert Downy Jr. is a RAREST OF RARE human beings we have among us today.

Tell Robert Downy JR, GFT gives him all the best!!!!!