At the Movies - 'The Rules of Attraction'

The Associated Press

"Bulimia is SO '87," one Heather snarls as another Heather is puking up her lunch in the girls' bathroom in 1989's "Heathers."

The same can be said of "The Rules of Attraction." It feels SO '87. That's the year the book on which it's based, Bret Easton Ellis' follow-up to "Less Than Zero," was published.

Writer-director Roger Avary, who co-wrote "Pulp Fiction," has bumped up the setting to the present day, but the moral remains the same.

Like the book, the movie indicts the rich, bored and wasted for their self-destructive behavior. "Less Than Zero" did that, too, but at least then it seemed relevant -- it came out at the height of coke-induced conspicuous consumption.

Fifteen years later, "The Rules of Attraction" simply feels out of fashion, like wearing a baggy sweater over leggings to sit in the audience at "TRL." Cameos by Fred Savage and Eric Stoltz and a soundtrack of songs by Yaz and The Cure only make the movie seem more dated.

And yet, every once in a while, "The Rules of Attraction" is visually exhilarating.

Some of Avary's camera tricks are a bit pretentious; one technique in which he runs the action backward to show the connection between characters is cool at first, but he does it so many times, and for such long stretches, he's clearly just showing off.

But another sequence -- one character's high-speed travelogue of his drug-and-sex-infused trek through Europe -- is a hilarious sensory overload.

The movie's real buzz, though, comes from the casting. There is a perverse, voyeuristic thrill in watching do-gooders from the WB network in a drunken, druggy haze.

James Van Der Beek paddles very obviously against the current of "Dawson's Creek" as Sean Bateman, a self-professed "emotional vampire" on the prowl at the exclusive Camden College in New England.

(Sean bares the same cold, calculating charm as Patrick Bateman, his older brother and the subject of "American Psycho," the best of all the adaptations of Ellis' books.)

Whether he's lighting a joint first thing in the morning or lying to a girl to get her into bed at night, he wears a dead-eyed look that will make you forget about the bright-eyed Dawson Leery.

Among Sean's many conquests is the libidinous Lara ("7th Heaven" co-star Jessica Biel, also playing against type). But he's really after her roommate, the virginal Lauren (Shannyn Sossamon), who's pining for Victor (Kip Pardue), who's staggering across Europe and couldn't care less about her.

Meanwhile, Lauren's bisexual ex, Paul (Ian Somerhalder), has the hots for Sean. Sean handles Paul's advances the same way he handles the jacked-up townie drug dealer who puts a gun to his head and demands thousands of overdue dollars: He shrugs and smirks, and with his trademark expression -- "rock 'n' roll" -- goes on his merry, scary way.

The movie tracks these characters from one debauched bash to another: from "The End of the World Party" to "The Pre-Saturday Night Party Party."

The story arc -- slight as it is -- follows Sean and Lauren as they halfheartedly try to get together. But like everyone else on the Camden campus, they're so shallow and selfish, they're doomed to sabotage the fragile relationship they've forged.

So, what have we learned from this?

That lesson is SO '87, too.

This is your brain.

This is your brain on drugs.

Any questions?

"The Rules of Attraction," a Lions Gate Films release, is rated R for strong sexual content, drug use, language and violent images. Running time: 110 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.