Less Than Zero (1987)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Marek Kanievska

Writers:

Bret Easton Ellis (based on the novel by)
Harley Peyton (screenplay)

Release Date:

6 November 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

It only looks like the good life.

Plot:

A college freshman returns to L.A. for the holidays at his ex-girlfriend's request, but discovers that his former best friend has an out-of-control drug habit.

Plot Keywords:

Wealthy | Christmas | Friend | Drugs | Nightclub

Cast

Andrew McCarthy	...	Clay
Jami Gertz	...	Blair
Robert Downey Jr.	...	Julian
James Spader	...	Rip
Tony Bill	...	Bradford Easton
Nicholas Pryor	...	Benjamin Wells
Donna Mitchell	...	Elaine Easton
Michael Bowen	...	Hop
Sarah Buxton	...	Markie
Lisanne Falk	...	Patti
Michael Greene	...	Robert Wells
Neith Hunter	...	Alana
Afton Smith	...	Kim
Brian Wimmer	...	Trent
Kelly Wolf	...	Lile

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Black and White | Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Belgium:16 (video rating) | Canada:18A (Canadian Home Video rating) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R (No. 28819) | West Germany:16 | South Korea:18

Filming Locations:

Beverly Hills High School - 241 Moreno Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

This is the first film that Robert Downey Jr. is billed as "Robert Downey Jr.". All films previous he was billed as simply "Robert Downey".

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Rip, Bill, Clay and Blair meet in a club, Rip says the words "Why don't you ask Julian," but his lips are clearly saying, "Why don't you ask Blair." He even points directly at Blair when saying it.

Quotes:

Blair: Did you talk to Julian yet?
Clay: No.
Blair: Clay, I asked you to talk to him.
Clay: Okay, I'll call Betty Ford, you want me to get him a room, fine.
Blair: No, just talk to him, I mean, he's your friend, too.
Clay: It's funny. When you called me, I thought I was coming home to see you.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "I Love the '80s Strikes Back" (2003)

Soundtrack:

Want Fi Goh Rave

Aptly Titled

Although his style had its detractors, Bret Easton Ellis painted an intriguing and extremely disturbing portrait of wealthy Los Angeles youths leading drug-laced lives of ennui--and who casually sleep around with both sexes, watch snuff films, and abandon long-standing friends without much more than batting an eye. Hollywood was eager to buy the rights to this best-selling novel, but Hollywood was also too chicken to actually film it... so they ran the novel through a wringer, and what came out on the other side is a formula story of two friends (Andrew McCarthy and Jami Gertz) who try to stop a third friend (Robert Downey Jr.) from taking a drug-fueled elevator straight to hell. And director Marek Kanievska even manages to foul that up, too.

The really frustrating thing about this film is how good the cast is--or rather, how could it COULD have been if absolutely anything about this sorry waste of time and money had been worth a damn. This is a really, truly shabby bit of hyped-up commercialism without any substance to it at all, badly written, directed, and filmed, and the only other title to which I can compare it is the abominable Didi Conn film YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE. I would dearly love to give this movie a less than zero rating, because that is precisely what it deserves, and if you think otherwise, guys, you're just buying into the marketing machine that told you this piece of trash was good to begin with.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer