I would watch this movie again any day for the following reasons: Ian Somerhalder, Shannyn Sossamon (they are hot), drugs and sex (frankly the emphasis on drugs and sex is slightly *ahem* overrated), but I’m not sure those are the reasons enough to attract you to this. Basically, this movie is about doing drugs, having sex and having sex while on drugs. Should I explain how appropriate this movie is for kids? Ok, moving on.

Rules of Attraction is one of those movies you have to watch drunk. But the thing is, if you do what I did (and that would be to watch it late in the company of drunk friends), then you won’t really get the plot. However, it won’t be a big loss, because we all know that watching movies drunk is for the purpose of avoiding the plot. The plot is kind of twisting, but for the sake of it, let’s keep it simple.

The story is basically about three college students. There’s this one fancy jerk Sean (James Van Der Beek from Dawson’s Creek, enough to pass this one), who’s a drug dealer. He walks around during the whole flick with an expression on his face like he’s stoned and he doesn’t give a … He owes a lot of drug money. That’s his major storyline. He’s also stalked by some female student who eventually looses it. Sorry. However, Sean doesn’t know her and thinks it's someone else. He’s also stalked by Paul (Ian Somerhalder), who’s openly bisexual. Well, not stalked, but followed around with an intention to have sex. Stalked, alright. Paul’s ex-girlfriend Lauren (Shannyn Sossamon) for some reason is attracted to Victor, another fancy jerk. He was backpacking across Europe, having sex (why can’t we use the f-word on this site?) with any girl he met. He comes back with something bigger than a nasty case of crabs. All of them smoke pot regularly, party, get drunk, have sex. That’s what the whole movie is all about.

Now, where’s attraction? When on drugs, you’ll do anything and get attracted to anyone and basically there’s no rules when you’re high. So I fail to see the reason for the title. I also failed to see why Lauren had to be attracted to Victor, there’s no real reason for Sean to be attracted to Lauren. But I really rooted for Paul to get down on someone, with or without attraction.

The soundtrack is very 80s and 90s. It features George Michael’s Faith in a remarkable bed scene featuring Paul and his friend Richard (who prefers to be called by a nickname, I’m not supposed to use on this site). They didn’t have sex, unfortunately, but they could model underwear alright. There’s another favorites by The Go-Go’s, The Rapture, The Cure and even a song by Milla Jovovich.

Acting was close to non-existent. Most of it failed, of course. The rest kept to their charms that have not failed them in their previous work. At least Ian and Shannyn are still hot, but I wouldn’t highlight this movie bold on their resume. There’s a big deal about Sean being a brother of some Patrick Bateman. Either way, I’m not sure I ever disliked James Van Der Beek more.

There’s a couple of ok moments during the movie. First of all, a very clichéd flashback of Victor’s trip to Europe. Yes, we’re like that here: stoned and open-minded, come visit us some time. I liked the mentioned above bed scene between Paul and Richard and then the follow-up dinner with their mothers. Richard’s ugly, but he’s got balls.

What I loved about the movie is cinematography. It’s filmed perfectly, directed quite well, if to forget too many storylines that get confusing after awhile.

What I totally hate about college movies is eternal partying. I’m a student myself, I’ve done a thing or two. Had a few shots (ok, a lot of shots) and smoked a few joints. But hey, there are classrooms and rules (not only of attraction, but how about expulsion?). I don’t mean to sound like a nun, but is this a college or a brothel?


Recommended:
No

Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age