Review Copyright Cassandra Henry, 2002

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"Do not fear death, rather the unlived life." -- Angus Tuck (William Hurt) CASS' CLIP (WARNING: **spoilers below**) The movie opens with a typical party being held somewhere on or around a fictional college campus, Camden College. The three main partygoers, Sean (James Van Der Beek), Lauren (Shannyn Sossamon) and Paul (Ian Somerhalder) each tell their story of how they ended up at this party. Their stories are weaved through several rewinds and meaningless fast-forward events. Sean sells drugs on the side for living expenses and spare change. Paul is a bisexual misfit looking to hookup with anyone hard up to sleep him. Lauren is obsessed with losing her virginity to Victor (Kip Pardue), while at the same time she flips through medical journals looking at pictures of sexual transmitted diseases. Will Sean and Lauren hook-up before Lauren loses her virginity to Kip? Will Paul sleep with Sean before Sean finds out that Paul already slept with Lauren? If Kip does sleep with Lauren, will he remember her name first? Will Lauren find out Kip's sexual orientation before it's too late? Do any of these characters have any redeeming qualities, and do I really care about the drug dealing or carefree sexual exploits of Sean, Lauren and Paul? Hell NO! DA 411 This movie is based on Bret Easton Ellis' novel, The Rules Of Attraction. Even though the book is set in the 1980's, this movie is set in the present. I won't go into details about some of the really stupid scenes expect to say; there's no humor in watching someone take a crap. While forcing myself to sit through this useless movie, I kept wondering if today's college student are really this f%$&ed up, how did they get that way? If so, then there are some really f%$&ed up parents? I'm not sure if it was Avary's intent to explore or dissect the issue of on-campus promiscuity before the AIDS epidemic. However, parents should consider this movie a Public Service Announcement that their children are not attending classes, and that their hard earned money is financing a culture of drug-addicted alcoholics. Finally, a message to today's young actors -- If you want to challenge your acting abilities, please stay away from stupid movies that exploit your talent. CASS' CONCLUSION This was an ugly film, and no amount of reverse footage or split screen cinematography makes this movie worth seeing. THE RULES OF ATTRACTION:   back to top Copyright Cassandra Henry, 2002 EMAIL: cass@3blackchicks.com