The Rules of Attraction (film)
| The Rules of Attraction | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Roger Avary |
| Produced by | Roger Avary Greg Shapiro |
| Screenplay by | Roger Avary |
| Based on |
The Rules of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis |
| Starring |
James van der Beek Shannyn Sossamon Ian Somerhalder Jessica Biel Kip Pardue |
| Narrated by | James van der Beek, Shannyn Sossamon, Ian Somerhalder, Kip Pardue |
| Music by | tomandandy |
| Cinematography | Robert Brinkmann |
| Edited by | Sharon Rutter |
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Production
company |
Kingsgate Films
Roger Avary Filmproduktion |
| Distributed by | Lions Gate Films |
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Release date
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Running time
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110 minutes |
| Country | United States Germany |
| Language | English German |
| Budget | $4 million |
| Box office | $11,819,244 |
The Rules of Attraction is a 2002 black comedy film written and directed by Roger Avary, based on the novel of the same name by Bret Easton Ellis. It stars James van der Beek, Shannyn Sossamon, Ian Somerhalder, Jessica Biel, and Kip Pardue.
Set at the fictional Camden College in New Hampshire, the film opens at the "End of the World" party, where students Lauren Hynde, Paul Denton, and Sean Bateman give apathetic interior monologues on their lives and briefly exchange glances with one another. Lauren, previously a virgin, takes a film student upstairs to have sex and passes out; she wakes to find herself being raped by a townie while the film student records it, and reflects on how she had planned to lose her virginity to Victor, her now ex-boyfriend. Meanwhile, Paul, who is gay, tries to have sex with a jock, only to be bashed when it turns out the jock is deeply closeted. A bruised and beaten Sean is shown tearing up a series of purple letters, before approaching and having sex with a blonde girl at the party.
The plot then moves backwards several months to the beginning of the school year, and explores the love triangle between Lauren, Paul, and Sean. Misinterpreting Sean's friendliness, Paul mistakes him for a homosexual and makes several advances, to which Sean is oblivious. Concurrently, Lauren also finds herself attracted to Sean despite saving her virginity for her traveling boyfriend, Victor. Sean reciprocates her feelings, and assumes the anonymous, purple love letters he has started receiving are from Lauren.
While Paul is visiting his friend "Dick", Sean is seduced by Lauren's roommate Lara at the "Dressed to Get Screwed" party, who tells him that Lauren isn't interested in him because she has a boyfriend. Despite having sex with Lara, Sean regrets it and realizes that he is in love with Lauren. It is then revealed that another, unnamed cafeteria girl is the author of Sean's love letters; after seeing him leave the party with Lara, she sends him a suicide note before cutting her wrists in the dorm bathtub. Lauren, finding Sean with Lara, runs to the girls' bathroom in tears, only to find the unnamed girl's body, leaving Lauren extremely distressed. Sean, still believing Lauren wrote the purple letters, misinterprets the unnamed girl's suicide note and assumes Lauren never wants to be with him. Lauren decides to lose her virginity to her Art History professor Lance Lawson. But being married and worried about losing his tenure, he simply allows her to perform felatio on him instead.
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