Rating: 
Summary: The Faculty
Review: Cult director Roger Avary ("Killing Zoe") adapts the material from one of Brett Easton Ellis` books and provides an enticing and addictive cinematic experience in "The Rules of Attraction".
The movie focuses on 3 college kids who are emotionally hurt and the only way to deal with the situation is spending their time around drugs, sex, parties and little else. The directing is edgy and stylish enough, pherhaps even a bit too hip for it`s own good, but excellent nonetheless. There are a lot of jumps/ reverse moments in the narrative to make it interesting, as well as multiple story perspectives, split screens and an unique, cretive way of connecting sound and image (the soundtrack is just great and sets the mood properly).
Sean (played by James Van Der Beek) is a character one love`s to hate, a selfish, crude and arrogant guy who eventually gets a hold on himself as he becomes more and more interested in Lauren (Shannyn Sossamon), a smart, late virgin who is expecting for her boyfriend to return from a trip to Europe. Paul (Ian Somerhalder) is a bisexual guy who recently dated Lauren and starts caring deeply about Sean, who rejects him.
Rating: 
Summary: Surprisingly, I loved it
Review: "The Rules of Attraction" is about rich kids, drugs, partying and a glimpse into college life. Since I've unfortunately known people just like this, it definitely scored with me. From beginning to end, this movie is fascinating and I couldn't pull myself away from it. Each scene is great and its a rare film that doesn't bore you. Its a very black comedy yet in many ways it hits on quite a few real issues. Sean is the main character, a drug dealing sociopathic character who falls for a virgin named Lauren who has a boyfriend named Victor. All the while Paul is in love with Sean. It sounds like a simple plot, but in the hands of Roger Avary its compelling. The backwards scenes, the suicide scene, the parties and the character interaction is disturbing yet intriguing. Of course, the book is better but that is generally the case. Still, I liked this better than "American Psycho" for some reason. It just seemed sadly real to me.My favorite scenes are obnoxious Richard at the restaurant, Sean's excuse to Lauren for sleeping with her friend, the guy going on a debauched trip across Europe and his weird face to face moment with Lauren and the hospital scene. This is a movie that isn't for everyone. Its a black comedy, but its peopled with strange characters and scenes that will stay with you long after. I loved it!
Rating:
Summary: stop being a snob
Review: this movie is not hamlet. again, this movie is not hamlet. if you enjoy hating every person in the movie, sitting through the first 45 minutes waiting for everything to go to s--t, and laughing to the point where your eyes water and you jock roommate thinks he should have never let you rent out that extra bedroom, then you need to see this movie. this movie is for all of the kids who spent all their free time drawing and writing music, but knew how stupid it was to spend $60k+ to get a paper that said that. it's funny. i promise. if not then, like i said before, you can actually relate to one of those characters, and that makes this movie hit way to close to home to think it's funny.
Rating:
Summary: ...
Review: Not that i am writing this to put down anyone's reviews of this movie, but i am just trying to wake some people up. One reviewer said this about the movie: "Everything else rings false - especially the unambiguous pursuit of sexual and narcotics pleasure by what are supposed to be college students. Real college students have been shown to seek extreme pleasures on a broader scale (music, sports)" Maybe because i am in high school, but i definetely have a damn good view of the people around me. Let me let you all in on a little secret, people love sex and drugs. (some the drugs more than the sex and some the sex more than the drugs, but if you ask anyone they are all looking to either get high on whatever or get laid.) The guys are looking for sex where ever they can find it, and the girls are falling in love left and right. Some of the girls are just looking for someone to screw and some of the girls are letting fake emotions get in the way. I personally love books and music and all that good stuff, it is enough to keep some people content yes, but we must not be blind when it comes to the negative side of things, because there are just as many negatives as positives. However, the sex and drugs, and human addictions are just one aspect of life, an aspect of life that this movie depicted. So that all aside, this movie was decent and very entertaining. More than entertaining it connected with something inside me, just one aspect of the world that i view, and really said what i would have said about relationships and sexual intercourse and drugs. nice job.
Rating:
Summary: Love this movie
Review: The Rules of Attraction is one of the most clever movies I have seen in a long time. It has a very interesting and amusing plot. And it's funny; I found myself laughing out loud repeatedly throughout the movie. The basic theme of the movie is love. Well...love and drugs. Direction is great. In my opinion it's better than Kill Bill 1 or 2. I strongly recommend this movie to everyone. It's a great laugh and wonderful movie. A must see.
Rating:
Summary: The Rules of Attraction
Review: This is James Van Der Beek's best film. The characters are outrageous , but realistic. The movie truly reflects the college experience for some. The music score is well integrated with the action scenes.
Rating:
Summary: I'll obey these rules
Review: This movie is violent, funna, dramatic, and the soundtrack rules!!! Van Der Beek's monologues are suprisingly witty, and the rest of the cast compliments his character perfectly. To quote my girlfriend - "I don't know weather to laugh or to cry." It's that kind of funny, and man is this movie awesome!
Rating: 
Summary: Not an Attractive Script
Review: Never have I enjoyed watching a movie I didn't enjoy more. What do I mean by that? The filmmaking techniques in The Rules of Attraction employed by director Roger Avary, cinematographer Robert Brinkman, editor Sharon Rutter, and the slew of digital effects technicians and all the rest behind the scenes is splendid. This is a movie that people who appreciate the art of shooting and editing a movie can be thrilled by. The sheer visual joy of filmmaking is evident in almost every shot. It's too bad all this technical prowess and creativity is wasted on a whole bunch of characters that are shallow and unpleasant. It's the story and the performances that I didn't enjoy. The Rules of Attraction centers around a group of reprehensible students at a small liberal arts college whose lives revolve around getting stoned/drunk and getting laid. Sure, that description can be applied to almost any teen "coming of age" comedy or drama. But the problem is that none of the characters in this movie had any redeeming qualities. There was no reason to root for any of them, no reason to care enough to become invested in the directions their lives would take them. On top of that, the script is a collection of disjointed scenes. These disjointed scenes allow for cameos by notable actors like Faye Dunaway, Swoosie Kurtz, Fred Savage, Paul Williams, Theresa Wayman, and not-so-notable Russell Sams, but none of their appearances really serve the story. In fact, you could take their scenes out of the movie, and nothing--absolutely nothing--would be lost. So, what was the point? In fact, the only one on that list whose character is an important plot point, a motivating factor for much of the lead character's actions, is removed from the story at the two thirds mark, but because of the disjointed nature of the script, the removal doesn't have any transformational effect on the lead character as it could or should. As for the stars, from my understanding, Jason Van Der Beek chose this script because he wanted to break away from his Dawson's Creek image. Well, okay. The lead character Sean Bateman is a much different note than Dawson Leery. The problem is, it's only one note. Part of the blame must be laid on scriptwrite/director Roger Avary, because there isn't much in the way of development for the character (or any of the other characters) in word or direction, but Van Der Beek doesn't imbue the character with any depth of his own creation. Much of Van Der Beek's performance is made up of tilting his head down and looking up with his eyes to communicate menace, lust, puzzlement, being drunk/stoned, annoyance, fear, and an orgasm (mind you, not all at the same time). It's an extremely limited pallet, and it gets monotonous. The other two leads, Shannyn Sossamon and Ian Somerhalder (who have equally difficult names to spell), fare a little better as the script gives them both a little more to do in terms of range and because they are able to inject small bits of humanity into their performances. Ultimately, I watched the movie until the end and I'm glad I did. Not because I was transported by the story--that just annoyed me--but because I enjoyed the filmmaking technique. I just wish it could have been brought to material I appreciated more. Note: The DVD contains an episode of Sundance Channel's Anatomy of a Shot that looks at the making of an incredibly effective scene conveyed in split screen. The scene is breathtaking in the movie and it was interesting to see how it was made. (c)2004 Joe Edkin
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Rating: 
Summary: I sat through all of it ... so it must be ok
Review: RULES OF ATTRACTION is not the worst look at wasted teenagers that I have seen. In fact, it is quite watchable but it does try a little too hard at times to be funny. It was refreshing to see the Dawson's Creek guy in a different role. I found some of the scenes very sad in the movie, and that was the idea (girl's suicide). This scene was particularly well filmed and the accompanying music added definite atmosphere. Adding Faye Dunaway and Eric Stulz in short cameos made very little sense to me. I assume the purpose of that was to attract audiences, but the remaining cast did an okay job on their own. Worth watching for a snapshot of how stupid teenagers can be.
Rating:
Summary: where are the rules?
Review: Simplicity of it... the first of 45 minutes of it was intriguing, then it just falls apart.
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