Rating: 
Summary: More than zero, but not by much
Review: Two friends (Andrew McCarthy and Jami Gertz) try to rescue a third (Robert Downey, Jr.) from the cocaine-fueled hell into which he is spiraling in the glitzy LA drug scene of the 80s. Although I admired the performances (particularly Downey's), I just couldn't get very involved in the story and look of the film was too slick. It often seemed as if director Marek Kanievska really wanted to make a music video. One could argue that this look is appropriate for the superficial world that the characters inhabit, but that doesn't make me enjoy it any more. It is filled with absurd MTV moments like the two young lovers stopping their car right in the middle of the road and making out passionately while bikers rumble past on either side of them. And the fate of Downey's character is uninspired and cliche.
Rating: 
Summary: Superficial Reality
Review: In "Less Than Zero", Blair, a beautiful young woman who seems to be losing her soul, is asked if she is happy. She responds by saying, "I'm not sad, but do I look good?" This is the essence of what is at the core of the characters who inhabit this film. All of them are filthy rich, and everything in their life is about how you look on the outside, while their inner core rots away. Julien, hauntingly played by Robert Downey Jr. , can no longer keep up the facade of looking good. His chronic cocaine addiction and the pain he suffers is on full outer display. Making this film even more poignant is how you can almost feel the real Robert Downey Jr. crying out through his performance,"Less Than Zero" centers on the forementioned characters, as well as Clay who has not fallen into drug addiction, but watches his ex-girlfriend Blair in the begining stage of addiction and his best friend Julien falling into the abyssmal stage. The film takes the viewer through the fascinating underworld of the L.A. ritzy drug scene of the 1980s. Despite the emotional brutality that the characters go through, the film is beautiful to look at, furthering the ironic notion of the film that despite being surrounded by beauty, the really is nothing but emptiness. There are a couple of emotionally jaw dropping scenes involving Clay and Blair trying to help Julian overcome his drug addiction. But in reality only he can save himself. "Less Than Zero" has no illusions about the power of drug addiction. The film shows the insanity of repeating the same self destructive actions over and over again. Note that the soundtrack is amazing, including the Bangles cover of "Hazy Shade of Winter". The score by Thomas Newman is so mournfully powerful it sends chills up your spine. Jami Gertz deserves special recogniton for her performance, who some might misunderstand, you have to remember she is coked up and like most of the characters in the film doesn't want to feel. From a viewers standpoint "Less Than Zero" is full of feeling to the point of being cathartic.
Rating: 
Summary: Aptly Titled
Review: Although his style had its detractors, Bret Easton Ellis painted an intriguing and extremely disturbing portrait of wealthy Los Angeles youths leading drug-laced lives of ennui--and who casually sleep around with both sexes, watch snuff films, and abandon long-standing friends without much more than batting an eye. Hollywood was eager to buy the rights to this best-selling novel, but Hollywood was also too chicken to actually film it... so they ran the novel through a wringer, and what came out on the other side is a formula story of two friends (Andrew McCarthy and Jami Gertz) who try to stop a third friend (Robert Downey Jr.) from taking a drug-fueled elevator straight to [the bottom]. And director Marek Kanievska even manages to foul that up, too. The really frustrating thing about this film is how good the cast is--or rather, how could it COULD have been if absolutely anything about this sorry waste of time and money had been worth a damn. This is a really, truly shabby bit of hyped-up commercialism without any substance to it at all, badly written, directed, and filmed, and the only other title to which I can compare it is the abominable Didi Conn film YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE. I would dearly love to give this movie a less than zero rating, because that is precisely what it deserves, and if you think otherwise, guys, you're just buying into the marketing machine that told you this piece of [work] was good to begin with.
Rating: 
Summary: Plot Change? Blame the Reagans!
Review: Many reviewers of this movie comment its lack of faithfulness to the plot of the book. For example, the teenagers in the novel are all using drugs and having meaningless sex. The only person with a drug problem in the film, however, is Downey Jr.'s character, while the rest of the cast (Gertz and McCarthy) try to save him while they fall in love. As far as I can see, this is a direct result of Reagan's "just say no" anti-drug and pro-family campaigns of the 1980's. The film makers were making a piece that reflected the political climate --- they weren't necessarily interested in staying true to the plot of the novel (which, by the way, isn't necessary for a good film adaptation - but that's another discussion).
Rating: 
Summary: More Or Less
Review: Less Than Zero is an adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' postmodern classic. While the film does dilute some the book's stronger elements, it does make one huge and superb change, elevating Julian from a minor character in the book into the centerpiece of the film. Robert Downey, Jr. is mesmerizing as Julian in what would become his break out role. The movie revolves around three rich kids from L.A. during Christmas break after their high school graduation. Clay (Andrew McCarthy) has gone east to college while his girlfriend Blair (Jamie Gertz) and Julian stay home. Right before leaving Clay discovers Julian and Blair in bed together. Although their is some tension, the trio remain friends. The problems come from Julian's hardcore drug habit. It has resulted in him being banished from his house and being heavily indebted to his drug dealer Rip (James Spader). Rip pimps Julian out as a homosexual prostitute and Julian cannot do anything about it. Clay and Blair try their best to help their friend, but Blair herself has a small cocaine problem. The film has some strong performances in addition to Mr. Downey's, especially by Mr. Spade, who is effectively icy as Rip. The film is shot in a music video style with a stellar soundtrack that includes Public Enemy, The Bangles, Aerosmith and the legendary Roy Orbison. The most intriguing aspect of the film is how it mirrors the real life of Mr. Downey. It is down right eerie on how closely his own bouts of drug addiction and several attempts at redemption mirror his character Julian.
Rating:
Summary: Life Fades Away
Review: While it may not be the best film ever made, It is one the best films of the 1980's. Adapted from the novel by Bret Easton Ellis, where nearly EVERY teenager was a powder sniffing waste of life, this film is a visual stunner. I am still trying to figure out how they photographed the wide aerial shot towards the end of the film. Did they start wide and go into the corvette or did they start tight on the corvette and fly out wide into the desert and edit in reverse. A commentary track is what the DVD needs to explain its enormous visual scope. Maybe Ellis could have sat in on the commentary session and explained the bastardization of his novel. If anyone has read the book, they know that his version is not appealing to mainstream audiences. The film is, and Robert Downey Jr. gives the performance of his (at the time brief) career. McCarthy and Gertz are equally fine. Downey Jr. is the embodiment of doom, but gives the audience subtle comic touches which is how his character deals with his uncomfortable surroundings. His character Julian needs more from life than what the beautiful mansions with pretty swimming pools in Beverly Hills offer him. A small masterpiece to be sure!
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't care less
Review: If your idea of entertainment is to see how the rich, young and beautiful can be brought low, then this is the movie for you! Beautiful and then-dewey Jami Gertz, Andrew McCarthy Robert Downey Jr. portray 18-year-olds whose ties to society, each other and their own futures all are compromised in one way or another by the heavy drug use by two of them. Thus we are witness to betrayal, degradation, despair, longing and ultimately tragedy as the three attempt to come to terms with the neglect and carelessness that has brought their friendships - and their lives - to the brink. It may be hard, however, for mainstream audience members to feel much pity for the three spoiled-rotten rich kids as so much of what is wrong with their lives seems their own fault.
True, their parents are not perfect, but few of them are. The three close friends apparently spent their youths united against the cruel torments of their rich, indifferent parents.
Gertz and McCarthey's characters are high school students in love, but after he leaves for college, she holds out only for...oh... weeks...before bedded their buddy, Downey. We see guilt, betrayal, thwarted love. Things go from bad to schmaltzy as the characters engage in cryptic conversations. Their dialogue shows them to be cool and they are always impeccably dressed, but apparently engaging in actual dialogue would be uncool, so mostly they engage in faux-witty banter. We don't quite understand what is at the core of the angst Gertz and McCarthy evidence. Maybe they felt it was the thing to do, but it makes for boring filmmaking. Downey turns in a much better performance, although many unanswered questions remain about his character as well. Was part of his seduction with Gertz really a thwarted wish to have a sexual relationship with McCarthy? Or to get even with him somehow for moving ahead with his life and leaving the two of them behind? Whatever the reason, his guilt and pain send him on a cocaine binge that has Downey exiled by his family and agreeing to prostitute himself for cocaine. Here, James Spader turns in a chilling small turn as the dealer who seems to enjoy witnessing Downey's degradation. While we can sympathize with Downey - particularly in light of the sad true-live addiction that has stunted his career and repeatedly put him in trouble with the law - sympathy is not to be had for
Gertz or McCarthy. They come across soley as cold, self-centered and the sort of kids you basically just wanted bad things to happen to.
For instance, during one scene, when a girl's nose starts bleeding because her habitually cocaine habit has actually eroded the carilage in her nose, she only giggles and says "rusty pipes" as she dabs at the blood. Gertz just looke on, saying nothing. It's no surprise to the audience that there is no happy ending here. At the end, we are left to hope that the startling finality of death, witnessed close up, will lead some of the characters to a new start. That, in any case, rang sadly true. Lady Fushia
Rating:
Summary: The Eighties Are Calling.
Review: Some people think that this film is disturbing, which it is, but it is a McDonald's commercial compared to the book. The soundtrack is pretty cool. The premise for the movie is just a simple formula of 80's JUST SAY NO which was echoing throughout America during the time of its release. What makes the movie worthwhile are two elements: James Spader and Robert Downey Jr. In my opinion Robert Downey Jr. is the best actor of his generation and the reason I give this film five stars is for, what I believe, is the best work of his career. Gertz and McCarthy are lame but necessary in this formula. That being said, McCarthy's look is perfect for the role. The Montages of LA lights and clubs are totally mesmerizing. If you are looking for a tight book adaptation, you are getting a film with the same name as the novel but has nothing to do with it. If you are an RDJ buff, this film is for you. If you like drug movies, this movie is for you. If you are into cheezy 80s nostalgia, hey, we have Jamie Gertz and Andrew McCarthy here....
Rating:
Summary: Lost and Alone...
Review: I'm not going to try and write about the specific details of the book (which I've never read)or poor direction. I'm sure that
90% of you know the surrounding subject of this film. All I'm going to say is that this movie may well be a typical "cliche" in terms of the L.A. scene as well as other things. But forget all that, this movie was suppose to deal with the mentality and emotional pain that is life. Forget the comparison's and the love/sex "story" between Mccarthy and his girlfriend and focus souly on the main point. In certain environments it is sometimes easier to become the passenger rather than the driver. I found a few scenes to be very intense and raw, regardless of the other overcoated ones. This movie was Robert Downey Jr., without him it would have been extremely mediocre. The true knowledge of pain and sadness dwells behind his eyes and exemplifies itself through his art, a true actor is only half acting. Just as he won the part as Chaplin over many well known actors, only he had that burning fire within.
Rating:
Summary: (***1/2 stars out of *****) Flawed but quite compelling
Review: This movie tested quite badly with critics and audiences back in 1987 and that is too bad. The characters are quite interesting and involving, the situations are credible, the pacing is good, and director Kanievska pays strong attention to detail and creating a dark, gritty, disturbing atmosphere. A well-made film, plain and simple.
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