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, Ian Somerhalder, Shannyn Sossamon

2 wins & 3 nominations.

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:

talking about sex | dancing in underwear | sex scene | sexual pleasure | lesbian | 

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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:

Former Official site for the film - site no longer active. [France] Official Director's site for the film. [United States]

Country:

Germany USA

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 USA:

$2,532,410, 13 October 2002, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$6,532,619, 21 November 2002

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$11,805,917, 21 November 2002

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

Sean Bateman and Paul Denton actually appeared in the original novel version of American Psycho, but not in the film adaption.

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Goofs

In Victor's monologue he states that he flew to London on a DC-10, a three-engined aircraft, yet in the shot on screen we can clearly see that the plane is a four-engined Boeing 747.

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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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Alternate Versions

Australian releases of the film are uncut and retain the 22 seconds that were cut to receive an R rating in the US.

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Connections

Featured in Anatomy of a Scene: The Rules of Attraction

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Soundtracks

Out of the Races and on to the Tracks
Performed by The Rapture
Written by Vito Roccoforte, Luke Jenner and Matt Safer
Published by Hung Up on a Dream/And Your Bird Can Sing Music/Le Sound Albert (SESAC)
Courtesy of Sub Pop Records

User Reviews

Brilliant adaptation of Ellis novel

Roger Avery succedes brilliantly in this impressive and horrifying adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' first novel. I read the novel 4 years ago as a Freshman in college after being blown away by 'American Psycho' and wanted to make 'Rules' into a film myself thinking no one would ever try. So much for that. Anyway, Avery impressed me alot. The series of Patrick Bateman references are also quite amusing for readers/viewers familiar with 'American Psycho'

Some reviewers have tended to comment on Avery's use of visual gimmicks, but he puts them to use well. The split screen where Sean meets Lauren is perfect, showing the seperation between them. The backwards film also works, showing how relatively meaningless many of the actions are, while drawing attention to them at the same time.

One last thing. People, including here on the IMDB have been criticizing the characters for being one-dimensional. THAT IS THE POINT. Ellis' characters ARE one-dimensional. What you get is a boat-load of information about all of these people and what you are left with is an empty being, soulless, if you will. It works. YOU aren't SUPPOSED to be attached to these characters because THEY are not attached to themselves or anyone else.

Brilliant film. Very well acted. Very well done.

Frank