Review of The Rules of Attraction (2002) by Hrishikesh T — 22 Mar 2011

Three college students navigate the perils of courtship all the while not realizing their own shallow natures and inability to understand that their methods are incapable of producing their goals.

What I like most about Bret Easton Ellis's satires is the way he takes generic conventions with which we are all familiar, like the serial killer genre in American Psycho and the college rumpus genre a la Animal House in Rules of Attraction, and uses these basic tropes as fodder for his critiques. Here, we all know these characters before we start the film: Sean is the attractive but troubled player, Paul is a gay man in a straight man's world, and Lauren is the quirky, attractive girl looking for the right guy to lose her virginity to. We've seen this before. But in Ellis's hands, the satiric exaggeration becomes how oppressively shallow each trope/character is. When Sean uses the word "love," we can't help but realize how of his actions belie the seriousness that word deserves. And the line "You will never know me" is so true because there is nothing to know. Ellis's point is that here, in college, where these characters are supposed to be expanding their minds and discovering themselves and their place in the world, they're ultimately merely layering on the lies. It is important to note that the only professor we see asks a student for a blow job -- not exactly the life of learning that parents think they're footing the bill for.

I also liked Roger Avary's direction. There are moments when the film reverses, sharp cuts, lightning-fast dialogue, and an inventive and effective use of split screen. All of it was consistent with the fast-paced, drug-addled life these characters are living.

I did think the film slowed down in the second act, and some of the party scenes became more about shock than advancing the story.

Overall, Rules of Attraction is a valuable satire about college life. If you watch it and like it, you might also want to check out Tom Wolfe's book I Am Charlotte Simmons.