2:32 | Trailer
A boy blackmails his neighbor after suspecting him to be a Nazi war criminal.
Director:
Bryan Singer
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Title: Apt Pupil (1998)
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6 wins & 10 nominations.
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Brad Renfro | ... | Todd Bowden | |
| Ian McKellen | ... | Kurt Dussander | |
| Joshua Jackson | ... | Joey | |
| Mickey Cottrell | ... | Sociology Teacher | |
| Michael Reid MacKay | ... | Nightmare Victim | |
| Ann Dowd | ... | Monica Bowden | |
| Bruce Davison | ... | Richard Bowden | |
| James Karen | ... | Victor Bowden | |
| Marjorie Lovett | ... | Agnes Bowden | |
 |
David Cooley | ... | Gym Teacher |
|
|
Blake Anthony Tibbetts | ... | Teammate |
| Heather McComb | ... | Becky Trask | |
|
|
Katherine Malone | ... | Student |
|
|
Grace Sinden | ... | Secretary |
| David Schwimmer | ... | Edward French | |
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Plot Synopsis
Storyline
Neighborhood boy Todd Bowden (Brad Renfro) discovers that an old man living on his block named Arthur Denker (Sir Ian Mackellan) is a Nazi war criminal. Bowden confronts Denker and offers him a deal: Bowden will not go to the authorities if Denker tells him stories of the concentration camps in World War II. Denker agrees and Bowden starts visiting him regularly. The more stories Bowden hears, the more it affects his personality. Written by Casey Ward <ward@citizen.infi.net>
Taglines:
If you don't believe in the existence of evil, you've got a lot to learn.Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
Rated R for scenes of strong violence, language and brief sexuality | See all certifications »Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
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See more on IMDbPro »
See full technical specs »
Details
Release Date:
23 October 1998 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Apt Pupil See more »Edit
Box Office
Budget:
$14,000,000 (estimated)Opening Weekend USA:
$3,583,151, 25 October 1998Gross USA:
$8,863,193Cumulative Worldwide Gross:
$8,863,193Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)Aspect Ratio:
2.39 : 1
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Kurt Dussander: It was something that had to be done. A door had been opened and couldn't be shut. It was the end... You don't understand.
See more »
Written by Paul Nelson, Sue Fink & Carl Verheyen
Performed by Dante Marchi
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
Ironically, Sir Ian McKellen would go on to play Erik Lehnsherr, a.k.a. Magneto, in Bryan Singer's next movie X-Men (2000), a Jewish character who was persecuted during the Holocaust. See more »Goofs
At the end of the movie as Dussender lay dead in the hospital bed his pupils are constricted when in fact they should be fully dilated if were dead. See more »Quotes
Todd Bowden: [about the killings at the death camps] What did it feel like?Kurt Dussander: It was something that had to be done. A door had been opened and couldn't be shut. It was the end... You don't understand.
See more »
Crazy Credits
The film has a 1997 copyright date in the credits. See more »Soundtracks
Too Much Of NothingWritten by Paul Nelson, Sue Fink & Carl Verheyen
Performed by Dante Marchi
See more »
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Directed by Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects and both X-Men features), Apt Pupil is a story of adolescent curiosity and evil intentions. Ian McKellen (X-Men) plays the role of an aged, former Nazi soldier living alone in a quiet town with Brad Renfro (Sleepers) as a young, high school teenager in the search of finding the truth about Nazi life in wartime Germany.
Adapted from the Stephen King novella of the same name, Apt Pupil is a psychological thriller with an Alfred Hitchcock-like presence, leaving quite a bit to the viewer's imagination. Much like a game of cards, the action moves back and forth between characters, each trying to take control of one another. While Kurt Dussander (McKellen) wants to keep his past in the past, Todd Bowden (Renfro) keeps probing (and sometimes threatening) to unleash the stories of the reign of Hitler and the torture of the Jews.
While this movie is much like other Stephen King-adapted novels in the sense that it doesn't always translate well to the big screen (with all of the little nuances that made King famous), the superb acting and directing makes Apt Pupil a worthwhile venture into the nature of mental wickedness. Both Singer's vision and McKellen's portrayal of Nazi war criminal bring excitement and intrigue to this movie making it a must-see.