The Rules of Attraction

We’re not sure why Hollywood continues to be obsessed with Bret Easton Ellis, whose star rose and fell in the 80s, and we’re not convinced that his novels are the “scabrously hilarious” social commentaries we’re told they are. Seems to us that most of his books have an essentially voyeuristic appeal. American Psycho was less an allegory of the go-go 80s on Wall Street, and more an excuse to explore the deepest homicidal recesses of misogyny; Less than Zero was less a satire of the Cali culture that spawned the dark side of Beverly Hills 90210 than a front-row seat for a drug-induced teenage meltdown. And now we can expect The Rules of Attraction to be the big-screen literary equivalent of “College Girls Gone Wild.” Our point? Forget about the literary pretensions and excuses, don’t read the book, and just enjoy the show—directed by Roger Avary and starring Faye Dunaway, James Van Der Beek, Shannyn Sossamon, Jessica Biel, and—yes!—Fred Savage.