The Rules of Attraction (2002)

The incredibly spoiled and overprivileged students of Camden College are a backdrop for an unusual love triangle between a drug dealer, a virgin and a bisexual classmate.

Director:

Roger Avary

Writers:

Bret Easton Ellis (novel), Roger Avary (screenplay)

Stars:

James Van Der Beek, Shannyn Sossamon, Jessica Biel

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Van Der Beek	...	Sean Bateman
Shannyn Sossamon	...	Lauren Hynde
Jessica Biel	...	Lara
Kip Pardue	...	Victor
Kate Bosworth	...	Kelly
Ian Somerhalder	...	Paul Denton
Joel Michaely	...	Raymond
Jay Baruchel	...	Harry
Thomas Ian Nicholas	...	Mitchell
Clifton Collins Jr.	...	Rupert
Clare Kramer	...	Candice
Faye Dunaway	...	Mrs. Denton
Swoosie Kurtz	...	Mrs. Jared
Russell Sams	...	Richard
Colin Bain	...	Donald

Storyline

Camden College. Sean Bateman is the younger brother of depraved Wall Street broker Patrick Bateman. He's also a drug dealer who owes a lot of money to "fellow" dealer Rupert Guest, as well as a well-known womanizer, for he sleeps with nearly half of the female population on campus. Lauren Hynde is, technically, a virgin. She's saving herself for her shallow boyfriend, Victor Johnson, who's left the States to backpack across Europe. Her slutty roommate, Lara, has the hots for Victor as well. Paul Denton, who used to date Lauren, is openly bisexual and attracted to Mitchell Allen, who's dating Candice to prove to Paul that he's not gay. Sean loves Lauren. Paul loves Sean. And Lauren may love Sean.

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Plot Keywords:

college | drugs | bisexual | drug dealer | roommate | 

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Taglines:

From the Corrupt Minds That Brought You 'Pulp Fiction' and 'American Psycho.'

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sexual content, drug use, language and violent images

Details

Official Sites:

Lions Gate Entertainment Official Site [France]

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English German

Release Date:

11 October 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Pravila privlačnosti

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£227,531 (UK) (28 March 2003)

Gross:

£835,861 (UK) (11 April 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kingsgate Films, Roger Avary Filmproduktion GmbH

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The radio station that awakens Sean is "WTNA". The music supervisors of the movie are Tom Hajdu and Andy Milburn (tomandandy); the radio DJ's are also named "Tom" and "Andy"

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Goofs

At the end of the world party when Sean puts the whiskey bottle on the end table it has the cap on, even though he had just been drinking from it.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Lauren: and it's a story that might bore you, but you don't have to listen, because I always knew it was going to be like that.

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Crazy Credits

The credits run backwards, starting with the disclaimer ("Any similarity to persons living or dead...") and rolling upwards to end with the cast.

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Connections

References The Wicker Man (1973)

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Soundtracks

"Faith"
Performed by George Michael
Written by George Michael
Published by © Chappell & Co. (ASCAP) o/b/o Big Geoff Overseas Ltd.
Courtesy of Columbia Records and Sony Music Entertainment (UK) Ltd.
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

Sex, Drugs and Rock n Roll

Based on Bret Easton Ellis'often-overlooked second novel,The Rules of Attraction is written and directed by Roger Avary(pulp fiction, killing zoe. This film has to be the most underrated film of this year. I was expecting just a normal film about rich kids on drugs but i got a piece of art blended in with college life. Avary makes this film fit into a dozen types of film, a satire, drama, black comedy, romance just to name a few.

James Van Der Beek(Varsity blues, standing still) plays a campus drug dealer Sean Bateman( brother of Patrick Bateman from American Psycho)who falls for the innocent virgin Lauren Hynde(Shannyn Sossamon)who is still in love with her ex Victor(Kip Pardue) who is on a trip across Europe getting high every night. Of course nothing turns out how its supposed to be which is the best part about this movie, it's not predictable nor a stupid little teen flick.

This movie is a serious film for anyone who wants to watch real actors and actresses playing their parts. Avary even has the time to fit in special effects of playing scenes backwards and putting in split screens to see the actors and actresses emotions at the same time.

A great movie!