Rating: 
Summary: Dark and surprising; a perfect psyche thriller.
Review: Based upon a novella by writer Stephen King, "Apt Pupil" is a harrowing and chilling achievement that takes its audiences on a journey into the very core of evil and deception. Brad Renfro plays the part of a young boy in the midst of studying Nazi Germany at his high school. Upon reading several books and viewing numerous photographic accounts, he discovers that a man who lives in his town is really a Nazi officer secretly hiding in America to escape persecution in his own land for his war crimes. The boy pays a visit to confront the man, Mr. Dussander, played by Ian McKellen. In exchange for his blackmailer's silence in the matter, Dussander keeps up his part of hte bargain by agreeing to tell the boy everything he wants to know about what happened in the Nazi concentration camps. The more the boy inquires into the old man's past, the more the old man begins to unlock the devil inside of him from long ago, and he begins to go back to his past through actions and emotional outbursts. Soon, the both of them are tangled in a web of lies, deceit, and suspense that neither of them can escape. Stopping here is a must, for saying anything more will ruin the many subplots of the movie. McKellen and Renfro give stellar performances that add tension and incredible emotion to the characters. The storyline and subplots all coalesce at times to create a highly energetic and stunning cinematic achievement that is one of the best examples of storytelling since "The Silence of the Lambs."
Rating:
Summary: Good Movie But Sorta Weird In A Way
Review: This was a really good movie. There were lots of disturbing parts to it. Many scenes I will honestly say are not suitable for a lot of people. I went to go and see this in the theatre with my sister and she got so offended by this movie that she had to step out for about 10 minutes. There are some scenes that will bother you like for example where the old guy tries to burn a cat in an oven NOW THAT BOTHERED ME. it had a good storyline it just needed something else to go with it. All around though I WOULD have this movie for my Video Library.
Rating: 
Summary: Very good!
Review: This film is really good. Very good performances by Ian McKellen and Brad Renfro keep the ball rolling on this one right from the start. It is also quite interesting to see David Schwimmer in it, playing a serious role when I am already used to seeing him as Ross Geller in the hilarious TV sitcom "Friends". It's a very ingenious story, very creative. Director Bryan Singer did a masterful job with it.
Rating: 
Summary: Well made, but novella was a completely different "FEEL"
Review: I read the book several years ago, and found it moralistic in its own right. Not the movie, though. I came away from the theater with the feeling that I had just witnessed a movie about the honor of Nazism. Dusander's death was portrayed just short of noble, and Todd not only got away with it, but he now has the courage and charisma to go on to be a powerful and successful member of society. I appreciated the film, but found its overall message to the audience disturbing, because it seemed to paint a glorified picture of Nazism. The book was a tragic story of the downward spiral of two people who had played with fire and started a blaze that totally consumed. The movie was borderline propaganda. This said, yes I did find the movie fascinating and yes I plan to own a copy of it someday, BUT I find it hard to recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting but somewhat exaggerated
Review: For people who have special interest on Nazi Germany, especially on psychology of those Gestapos. I watched the film without getting bored, and liked it very much. I think many people are very much interested about what really happened in the camps like Auschwitz. The young student is also one of them. But what I really didn't like was that the Herr Dussander was much exaggerated, especially on the scene he puts the cat into the oven. The Gestapos are monsters but in a much different way, they cannot be compared with Freddy of the Elm Street. I don't think that an old Nazi looks like Dussander.
Rating:
Summary: History and storytelling
Review: Presently working on "History in Stephen King's books", I am studying, in great details, The Dead Zone and Apt Pupil. Insofar as the books and the films are concerned, The Dead Zone is marvellous, because the film does not in any way distort the book. Cronenberg has done a beautiful job. The film gives a visual dimension to the book and hence enriches it in a way. But with Apt Pupil, there are so many twists and changes that the book is difficult to recognize in the film. We do not find the progressive and absolutely total degradation of both Mr Denker and Todd. Todd does not kill vagrant people in the film. Mr Denker only kills one wino. He even fails with the cat. The boy, Todd, is not cornered as he is in the book, cornered by his conscience and by the police and his guidance councelor, as he is in the book. He becomes vicious but his degradation is far from being finished and he can survive and even prosper in our society with his new agressive domineering attitude. He might even be seen as a winner. In the book he is a loser. We lose the essential lesson: to get involved with those crimes, at a certain age, if it is not done with care and distanciation, in a discursive way, with aware adults, it leads to degradation because evil is catching and there is no remedy, no medicine to cure it. I guess that we can maybe enjoy the film, if we do not know the book, even if the swiftness of the film erases most details and most dark corners in the tale. I definitely prefered the book. Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, Paris Universities IX and II
Rating:
Summary: Nasty
Review: Apt Pupil is a simaltainously fascinating and unpleasant experience. Todd's(Brad Renfro) obsession with the Nazi war criminal is a wrong place to start because it is clear right from the beginning that Todd, who is supposed to represent innocence lost, is a phsycotic in his own right, which makes his descent to depravity and lies less compelling. Because of the subject matter of the film we are not able to enjoy the villian, he is simply too nasty. It is a testament to our desensitization that a character attempting to burn a cat is more revolting than murdering another human being, but unfortunatly that is the case. We've seen many murders on screen but hardly any cats being thrown into ovens or crippled pigieons be crushed to death by a basketball. I also didn't buy Todd turning murderous, it comes as something completely arbitrary and not in step with the rest of his actions. I did however find his relationship with his guidance councler superbly handled, his final scene with him seems like a much more realistic level that Todd would sink to rather then murder. With villians that lack the charm of a Hannibal Lecter or the grim fascination of a John Doe in Seven why is this tale of evil worth watching? I can't put my finger on it, but it is all grimly compelling and thought provactive. By the time the last third of the film rolls around you may not be exilerated but you will be fixated to the screen. This is Bryan Singer's second film, and it is extremely well made, but you can feel him reaching, as in the shower scene where Todd halucinates about a holocuast victim. He is an excellent director working from average material.
Rating:
Summary: A matter of taste - good Stephen King adaption
Review: One might not like the movie, as one might not like the novella by Stephen King. Still, the movie is one of the best adaptations of a story of Stephen King and the actors are very convincing. It's a good movie, but I can understand if some people dont like it.
Rating: 
Summary: Very big disappointment
Review: 1) There were no motivations for the characters: the movie just "started" and continued. The viewer was just expected to believe that a 16 year old boy would SPONTANEOUSLY start hunting for a a specific Nazi war criminal that happened to live in his hometown. We don't even get a sense of "why". 2)Brad Renfro was unconvincing as an actor: there was no passion. I think another actor may have been better suited. When he showed "anger" it seemed contrived and when he showed "fear" it was more akin to a B grade horror movie than a holocaust drama. Ditto for his parents, and guidance councilors in the film. This poor casting turned the movie into something substandard. Perhaps it was because Ian McKellan was so strong an actor in this film. 3) The ending was simply ridiculous. As with most films based on Stephen King books, it was slapped together with the "gee,how do I tie this up?" dilemma. Perhaps an Ed Norton should have been cast in the roll. Even Jonathan Brandeis would have at least given the acting ability. It really could have been better. 4) I agree with those who felt they needed to fast-forward. I was on cable. I had no such luxury.
Rating:
Summary: I think this movie was good but not great
Review: Well this movie teaches you a lot about the holocaust which means that this movie is quite disturbing in most ways. There isn't a lot of very "Happy" parts in this movie. For one if you think the idea of burning a cat is good by all means please buy this. But since I know that most of you out there don't like that I suggest you save your money so that you don't start feeling sorry for the cat OR PIGEON.
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