| SYNOPSIS
This,
then, is the domain of Camden College, a small, affluent liberal
arts college somewhere in New England, and its human satellites.
We
offer, for your consideration, three members of Camden's student
body:
Sean
Bateman (JAMES VAN DER BEEK), a striking young man with
only a passing association with his emotions. Having cut an unhealthy
swath through the female population of Camden he is over his ears
in debt and just an occasional visitor to his classes…
...Paul
Denton (IAN SOMERHALDER), a cynical if highly intelligent
young libertine whose proclivities lean very much toward the most
beautiful face in the room--whether male or female--especially those
with no interest whatsoever in sexual or emotional congress with
him. Once upon a time, Paul dated...
...Lauren
Hynde (SHANNYN SOSSAMON), a beautiful if increasingly
befuddled young woman seeking connections where few seem to exist,
riding her skateboard into the ether of Camden's social universe,
which always seems to be perched on the precipice of the apocalypse.
Sean,
Paul and Lauren are surrounded at Camden by their very good "friends":
Lauren's roommate Lara (JESSICA BIEL), whose carnal instincts far
outweigh the bonds of camaraderie; the much sought-after Victor
(KIP PARDUE), a chronic object of Lauren's desire whose European
sojourn has kept him out of her reach; Sean's friend Mitchell (THOMAS
IAN NICHOLAS), about to fall into the abyss of Bateman's world;
Paul's posse (JAY BARUCHEL, JOEL MICHAELY and COLIN BAIN), always
at the ready with a brittle quip; Kelly (KATE BOSWORTH), one of
Sean's innumerable and quickly forgotten conquests; and Marc (FRED
SAVAGE), who mistakenly believes himself to be considerably more
coherent than he actually is.
There
are distinguished members of the Camden faculty, such as Mr. Lance
Lawson (ERIC STOLTZ), who views himself as being young and cool
enough to attend campus parties, and to occasionally suggest raising
an attractive student's grade point average in exchange for "extracurricular
activity."
Outside
of the rarified world of Camden is the "townie" Rupert
(CLIFTON COLLINS, JR.), a dealer who supplies Sean and plenty of
other Camden students with their recreational pharmaceuticals...for
a very good price.
And
then there's family: Mrs. Denton (FAYE DUNAWAY), Paul's elegant
mother, the victim of too much money and too little love, as well
as family friend Mrs. Jared (SWOOSIE KURTZ). Together they enjoy
their cocktails and prescription drugs over lunch with their sons
who are just as high as their mothers.
And
so it goes, with endless rounds of drug-alcohol-and-sex-drenched
campus fetes--such as The End of the World Party, The Dress to Get
Screwed Party, and The Pre-Saturday Night Party --inconveniently
punctuated by sparsely-attended Camden classes.
But
human nature determines that in a highly imperfect world, the rules
of attraction always apply...and among the co-eds at Camden College,
the first rule is: There are no rules.
Lions
Gate Entertainment's The Rules of Attraction is Academy Award winning
director/writer ROGER AVARY's scathingly insightful film adaptation
of Bret Easton Ellis' scabrously funny social satire of life and
love among the young and the privileged. Avary, who won his Oscar
as co-writer of Pulp Fiction, previously directed cult classic Killing
Zoe, which also starred Eric Stoltz.
For
The Rules of Attraction, Avary has assembled a remarkable group
of actors, all of whom were drawn to become participants in Avary's
ambitious, incisive and highly contemporary comedy of very bad manners.
For
many of these talents, The Rules of Attraction represents a distinct
and courageous change of pace from their previous work.
JAMES
VAN DER BEEK has found stardom portraying title character Dawson
Leery of the WB Network's smash hit series Dawson's Creek, as well
as the highly successful feature Varsity Blues. IAN SOMERHALDER
starred in the WB's coming-of-age drama series Young Americans,
and most recently appeared alongside Kevin Kline, Hayden Christensen
and Kristin Scott Thomas in Irwin Winkler's feature, Life As A House.
SHANNYN SOSSAMON starred as the romantic lead opposite Heath Ledger
in A Knight's Tale and with Josh Hartnett in 40 Days and 40 Nights.
JESSICA BIEL stars as Mary Camden in the WB's popular series 7th
Heaven and had the lead opposite Freddie Prinze, Jr. in the Warner
Bros. feature Summer Catch.
Other
cast members include KATE BOSWORTH who acted alongside Ian Somerhalder
in Young Americans and stars this summer in the highly anticipated
surf movie Blue Crush; THOMAS IAN NICHOLAS, one of the randy high
school students in the phenomenally successful American Pie and
American Pie 2; KIP PARDUE, who starred opposite Sylvester Stallone
in Renny Harlin's Driven as well as the hit Jerry Bruckheimer production
Remember the Titans; ERIC STOLTZ, one of the screen's most versatile
talents, who starred in Avary's Killing Zoe and numbers among his
many credits a wide range of mainstream and independent features,
including Mask, Some Kind of Wonderful, Bodies, Rest & Motion
and Sleep With Me, producing the latter two as well; CLIFTON COLLINS,
JR., who made a dazzling impression on audiences as "Frankie
Flowers" in Steven Soderbergh's Traffic and in Joel Schumacher's
Tigerland; and FRED SAVAGE, who grew up before America's eyes on
The Wonder Years and is now very much a young veteran of stage and
screen. The cast also includes such fine young performers as JOEL
MICHAELY (But I'm A Cheerleader) and newcomers COLIN BAIN (Long
Shot with Britney Spears) and RUSSELL SAMS.
Also
appearing in the film as Mrs. Denton, Paul's mother, is the legendary
FAYE DUNAWAY, whose extraordinary career has included such classics
as Bonnie and Clyde, The Thomas Crown Affair, Chinatown and Network
(for which she received an Academy Award for Best Actress) to such
independent efforts as Don Juan DeMarco, Albino Alligator and The
Yards. Portraying Mrs. Jared, the similarly privileged mother of
one of Paul's former paramours, is SWOOSIE KURTZ, the highly honored
performer of stage and screen who was a series regular on the popular
Sisters.
The
behind-the-camera talent of The Rules of Attraction includes producer
GREG SHAPIRO of the innovative production company Kingsgate (Affliction,
Simpatico, Investigating Sex); executive producer JEREMIAH SAMUELS
(love jones, That Championship Season, The Wash); director of photography
ROBERT BRINKMANN (The Truth About Cats and Dogs, The Cable Guy);
production designer SHARON SEYMOUR (Reality Bites, Don Juan DeMarco,
The Truth About Cats and Dogs); and costume designer LOUISE FROGLEY
(The Limey, Traffic, Spy Game).
PRODUCTION
NOTES
The
commencement of production on The Rules of Attraction represented
the culmination of a 15-year-long effort by director/writer Roger
Avary to bring Bret Easton Ellis' withering social dissection to
the screen, having become enamored of the novel upon its publication
in 1987 as the author's sophomore effort following Less Than Zero.
As the years progressed toward the turn of the 21st century, Avary
found that the novel and its characters not only didn't age, but
actually resonate more in a time of increasing nihilism among the
economically favored youth of America. As a result, Avary eliminated
the specific late 1980s setting of the story, feeling that The Rules
of Attraction not only speaks of the current generation, but to
them as well. "It's a complicated answer when I tell people
that the story takes place during no time," notes Avary. "The
film will contain an 80s conceit, be populated with present day
dressings, but will exist--much like Killing Zoe--in a bubble universe
all its own."
Avary
was originally drawn to The Rules of Attraction because of its thematic
connections to a period of social history that had particular fascination
for him: the dissipation and dissolution of the French bourgeoisie
in the 1930s, just before Hitler and the cataclysm of World War
II catapulted their world into trivia. And as an avowed and lifelong
student of film (his work as a former video store clerk gave him
access to thousands of titles), Avary recognized tangible links
between The Rules of Attraction and Jean Renoir's similarly titled
1939 classic The Rules of the Game. "Something to keep in mind
is that the 80s nihilism of Ellis' work was very much alive in France
during the 30s," notes Avary.
Provocative
and often controversial, Bret Easton Ellis is one of the most uncompromising
social chroniclers of his time. In a series of often devastating
novels--Less Than Zero, The Rules of Attraction, American Psycho,
The Informers and Glamorama--Ellis has continuously picked at the
scabs of materialism, trendiness and emotional stasis among his
young, often frighteningly wealthy and wasteful characters. Often,
characters introduced in one novel will work their way into others,
either as protagonists or secondary characters. Hence, The Rules
of Attraction's Victor is the subject of Glamorama, and Sean Bateman
is the brother of Patrick Bateman, the main character of the aptly
titled American Psycho, which was the basis of the critically acclaimed
Lions Gate film released in 2000 starring Christian Bale and directed
by Mary Harron.
Avary
set about to engage in the talents of some of the finest young performers
working today. "Casting James Van Der Beek as Sean Bateman
was perceived by some as surprising and subversive," admits
Avary. "'The Beek' is one of the coolest guys I've ever met,
and has just the qualities I needed for my version of Bateman--not
to mention the will to go there." It didn't take the writer/director
long to make his choice for the right person to portray Lauren either.
"I met Shannyn Sossamon at her home and chatted for several
hours about the screenplay," says Avary, "and much to
my delight our thematic discussion evolved into a therapy session.
I knew instantly that I had found my Lauren--to be portrayed as
a contradiction of confidence and insecurity--and asked Shannyn
to join our troupe for what measured up to be an amazing psychological
adventure."
Avary
discovered the talented Ian Somerhalder so late in the game that
the first day's call sheet didn't even carry the name of the actor
selected to portray Paul Denton. The director was convinced that
he had found Paul upon seeing Somerhalder in the Irwin Winkler film
Life As A House, and chose the young actor above many more often
better-known performers.
Avary
had already attracted what he calls "the best bunch of creative
talents a person could ever hope to work with and a key crew roster
that is unbelievable for a film of this size," including director
of photography Robert Brinkmann, production designer Sharon Seymour,
costume designer Louise Frogley and first assistant director William
Paul Clark, a veteran of several Quentin Tarantino films, including
Pulp Fiction. Nearly all crew members had one foot in the mainstream
and the other in the independent film worlds, a perfect combination
to assist Avary in bringing his quest to fruition.
Principal
photography began in sizzling mid-August heat at the University
of Redlands in Southern California's San Bernardino County, selected
as the location for cooler New England's Camden College. "There
was lots of discussion as to why I'm choosing to shoot a movie that
takes place in New England in the Los Angeles area," notes
Avary. "Very simply, in my humble opinion, Los Angeles-based
crews are the best and most capable in the world. There is nothing
like an L.A. crew for a potent mix of enthusiasm and ability."
Avary also points to the fact that his first film, Killing Zoe--although
entirely set in Paris--was almost entirely filmed in Los Angeles,
save for two days on location in the French capital.
As
a result, Avary, producer Greg Shapiro, executive producer Jeremiah
Samuels, production designer Sharon Seymour and location manager
David Thornsberry set out to meticulously uncover locations across
the length and breadth of Los Angeles which were suitable for the
setting of the story. They were deeply impressed with the classic
Greek revival architecture of the University of Redlands, with many
buildings dating from its 1907 founding. All that was required was
for cinematographer Robert Brinkmann and his camera crew to avoid
the numerous palm trees at all costs...and for special effects coordinator
Ron Bolanowski and his team to create the illusion of the chill
New England winter by turning some 55,000 pounds of block ice into
utterly convincing and real snow (abetted by softly falling artificial
snow and visual effects supervisor Al Magliochetti's convincing
digital additions). Miraculously, even in temperatures topping 100
degrees Fahrenheit, snow pumped from powerful hoses the previous
night was still on the ground the following day!
Other
locations for the film were discovered in such diverse communities
as Pasadena, Marina del Rey, Sunland, Downey and central Los Angeles...all
of them combining to create a unique universe that represents the
melding of Bret Easton Ellis' words with Roger Avary's cinematic
vision of The Rules of Attraction.
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