The Rules of Attraction
Lions Gate Films | Release Date: October 11, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
50
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 30 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
9
Negative:
8
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
The cast is a pitch-perfect assemblage of pretty young things, but James Van Der Beek, as a slit-eyed dorm stud, proves that he can be an actor of cruel force. Read full review
80
TimeRichard Corliss
Sex, drugs and rack 'n' ruin; pretty people doing nasty things to one another...honestly, what more could you want in a movie? Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyMark Olsen
It's so playful, wicked and unseemly, by the time you realize that the actual plot of this brilliantly sordid satire hasn't started, the party is already over. Read full review
80
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
Propelled by a fine Tomandandy score and a savvy assortment of seductive new-wave hits, Attraction is top-notch trash, a guilty pleasure designed for the decadent 14-year-old in everyone. Read full review
80
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Rules needs that dose of hilarity. Ellis' satire, filtered through Avary's harsh lens, is hard to stomach, harder to ignore. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
At times darkly funny and at other times depressingly tragic. It's safe to say there aren't any movies out there quite like this one. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Actually I quite enjoyed the film -- but how do I get rid of this awful discharge? Read full review
70
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Oddly compelling. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Further proof that so-so books often make better movies than good ones. Read full review
70
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
For all its kinetic energy, for all its camera tricks, for all its dark humor, there's still something a bit off about these Rules, and it's not really Avary's fault. Read full review
70
Washington PostStephen Hunter
The movie feels more like a walk across campus than a movie. That's so depressing. On the other hand, each of these lost children is really looking for the same thing, ol' Mr. Love. Read full review
70
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Roger Avary's crisp adaptation imbues the copious bad sex and general befuddlement of Bret Easton Ellis's solemn, echt '80s Bennington novel with a playfully obnoxious energy that is often funny and -- almost fun. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
If there's one thing Avary gets right, it's the brutal use-or-be-used approach to interpersonal relations that Ellis laid out with numbing detail, and James Van Der Beek is down to the challenge as Sean Bateman: horndog, cokehead, ceramics major, and all-around jerk. Read full review
60
VarietyScott Foundas
Gets an ambitious, sometimes inspired but ultimately less than satisfying screen treatment from Roger Avary. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
There is no entry portal in The Rules of Attraction, and I spent most of the movie feeling depressed by the shallow, selfish, greedy characters. I wanted to be at another party. Read full review
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Opens on a display of humiliation and human degradation at its worst and then rewinds, like a video surfer zipping back to replay a favorite scene, to the nominal beginning of the spiral. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
Some of its parts are nifty, but the sum of these parts is nothing. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Hollow and pointless. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Although it would be understatement to call their characters unsympathetic, Van Der Beek and Sossamon play their parts with such doomed passion that they have some affecting moments. Read full review
42
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
It's a small-minded and jejune film, and it feels strangely out-of-date considering how loaded it is with right-here-right-now signifiers.
40
The New York TimesStephen Holden
The harder the movie tries to shock, the shriller it rings. Read full review
40
Film ThreatTodd Levin
The big screen has a very difficult time capturing the talent of James Van Der Beek - literally. The aspect ratio of projected film simply cannot accommodate the full breadth of his enormous melon head. Read full review
38
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Juices up the visuals with fancy camerawork and split screens, but it can't distract enough from the vulgarity of the material. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleCarla Meyer
Nearly every bodily fluid makes an appearance in "Rules," a mean-spirited paean to hedonism set at an East Coast college where students attend class only occasionally, and then only to perform oral sex on instructors. Read full review
25
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Some movies just bring out your inner Matlock: a desire to grab young punks by the lapels, smack them against a wall, knock their cigarettes to the ground and wipe the sneers off their faces. Such is the case with the callow and cynical The Rules of Attraction. Read full review
25
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Most of the characters are one-dimensional, and Avary's over-the-top directing doesn't make them interesting for more than a few isolated moments. Read full review
25
New York PostJonathan Foreman
Looks and feels like a bad imitation of "Trainspotting" without any of that film's wit or charm. Read full review
25
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
And what of Roger Avary, the writer who shared the Academy Award for writing with Tarantino? He continues to plummet toward oblivion with The Rules of Attraction, which ranks with the Great Pyramid of Khufu as a monument to self-indulgence. Read full review
25
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Avary has taken a pig's ear of a book and turned it into a pig's ear of a movie.
20
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Ugh. The Rules of Attraction is the kind of movie that leaves vague impressions and a nasty aftertaste. Read full review
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