I heard for years about THE RULES OF ATTRACTION because of the cast and the subject but somehow I always kinda avoided it. Well, last January I left my fears behind and finally saw it and, while I didn't loved it, I still liked it for what it was.
The movie is set in the Camden College in New Hampshire where the students are celebrating the 2001 End of Year party where Lauren Hynde (Shannyn Sossamon) loses her virginity with an unknown and is filmed by a colleague for a hard movie. Sean Bateman gets close to a blonde and she falls for him only because of some songs played with the guitar.
Then we go backwards (a few months earlier). Sean has all the fantasies you can imagine for Lauren, and ends in bed with Lara Holleran (Jessica Biel) only to regret it because his heart prefers Lauren, and as a result Lauren tries to lose her virginity with counselor Lance Lawson (Eric Stoltz) with disastrous results since he is married and ends up having only a BJ. After some suicide attempts Sean fakes his death managing to upset Lauren but after a while he'll try to talk to her again pretending to simply know her but she dumps him (and Lauren will meet Victor only to see him doing dirty stuff with Lara). After Sean finally realizes that he can't stay with Lauren he will do a trip across Europe and try to close all his deals of the past.
My summary refers to the fact that when you think of a college movie the first thing that pops in your mind are AMERICAN PIE or ROAD TRIP. But this is different, because it focuses on the personal lives of some students and some of their struggles as they continue their floundering life-style. The performances by all the cast members were decent, nothing exceptional. The direction by Roger Avary was focused but also special because the movie begins during the End of the World party, the stories are set after that but in the second half it returns back at the beginning. Although it's original I personally found it a bit confusing because I prefer my movies with a plot that starts and goes straight until the end.
Overall, despite it's a very divisive movie I would recommend it to people that from time to time wants to see always something different because of the different plot-style and situations.
The movie is set in the Camden College in New Hampshire where the students are celebrating the 2001 End of Year party where Lauren Hynde (Shannyn Sossamon) loses her virginity with an unknown and is filmed by a colleague for a hard movie. Sean Bateman gets close to a blonde and she falls for him only because of some songs played with the guitar.
Then we go backwards (a few months earlier). Sean has all the fantasies you can imagine for Lauren, and ends in bed with Lara Holleran (Jessica Biel) only to regret it because his heart prefers Lauren, and as a result Lauren tries to lose her virginity with counselor Lance Lawson (Eric Stoltz) with disastrous results since he is married and ends up having only a BJ. After some suicide attempts Sean fakes his death managing to upset Lauren but after a while he'll try to talk to her again pretending to simply know her but she dumps him (and Lauren will meet Victor only to see him doing dirty stuff with Lara). After Sean finally realizes that he can't stay with Lauren he will do a trip across Europe and try to close all his deals of the past.
My summary refers to the fact that when you think of a college movie the first thing that pops in your mind are AMERICAN PIE or ROAD TRIP. But this is different, because it focuses on the personal lives of some students and some of their struggles as they continue their floundering life-style. The performances by all the cast members were decent, nothing exceptional. The direction by Roger Avary was focused but also special because the movie begins during the End of the World party, the stories are set after that but in the second half it returns back at the beginning. Although it's original I personally found it a bit confusing because I prefer my movies with a plot that starts and goes straight until the end.
Overall, despite it's a very divisive movie I would recommend it to people that from time to time wants to see always something different because of the different plot-style and situations.