Raise your hand if you want to see the new college movie starring WB favorites James Van Der Beek and Jessica Biel.
Anybody? Anybody? Bueller?
What if it was based on the cult-favorite novel Rules of Attraction by Brett Easton Ellis, who also wrote American Psycho, and written by the co-writer of Pulp Fiction? OK, now we're getting somewhere.
Rules of Attraction was adapted for the screen by Roger Avary, who was behind the indie classic Killing Zoe and co-wrote the Academy Award-winning flick Pulp Fiction, directed by Quentin Tarantino.
And while the film features gritty sex scenes highlighted by squeaky-clean actors such as Van Der Beek, of Dawson's Creek fame, Avary says the audience can expect something different from the other scores of films that portray young people in provocative positions.
"It's as different [from movies like American Pie and Slackers] as The Graduate was from Animal House," Avary says. "Like most people, I enjoyed each of those movies, but for different reasons."
Rules of Attraction takes a look at a group of undergraduate students at the fictional Camden University in New England.
Van Der Beek's character, Sean Bateman, is a self-serving ladies' man with an appetite for illegal substances. He is surrounded by the likes of Paul Denton (played by Ian Somerhalder), who is attracted to both sexes as long as no one is interested in an emotional commitment; and Paul's ex-girlfriend, Lauren Hyde (Shannyn Sossamon), a confused girl who travels by skateboard.
The movie is the first major project that Avary has ventured into since winning the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Pulp Fiction in 1995.
"After the success of Pulp Fiction I was able to pursue what I wanted," he says. "But I was doing so well that I was not pursuing things with as much need, so I had a lot of deals, but no movie. After a while it got to the point where I thought to myself, 'I have to make a movie or I'm going to die.'"
Avary says that he first read the Easton Ellis novel while he was attending a small liberal arts school in Northern California and knew immediately that he wanted to make it into a movie. Because of the book's complicated plot, it wasn't until 15 years later that he figured out how he was going to accomplish writing the script.
"I woke up in the middle of the night with the idea of how I was going to be able to write it," he says. "I put aside a project that I was working on for Paramount and wrote the whole thing before even obtaining the rights to it."
"I basically wrote it to exorcize the demons in my head," he adds. "I thought it was too weird for anyone to want to make it so I put it away in a drawer."
Fortunately, when a producer friend of Avary's encouraged him to take the script out of the drawer, the rights to the novel were still available and he was able to present it to the studios.
Avary says that because of the timing of the movie, which was filmed during the tail end of the Screen Actors Guild strike, and the fact that actors were interested in taking on challenging roles, he was able to attract some pretty accomplished actors to the film.
Faye Dunaway, for instance, portrays Paul's pill-popping mother, Mrs. Denton.
"It turns out that Faye is a huge fan of films like Amores Perros and wanted to do a tough indie film," he says. "She agreed to do it the minute I called."
Some of the actors portray well-rounded, college-age characters, which isn't a stretch for many of them. But, says Avary, the movie will give audiences a chance to be shocked by the actors' artistic capabilities.
"When James showed up for the audition I was the first guy to say, 'Dawson?'" he says. "I was real [skeptical] until I looked into his eyes. I realized that they were capable of a cold emptiness and able to convey sadness. At the same time he has this immediate likable charisma and this combination was perfect for the character.
"Audiences are going to go into this film expecting Road Trip or Summer Catch and it's definitely going to stun them." he says.
Reach the reporter at joy.hepp@asu.edu.
