The Rules of Attraction

Roger Avary has done a good job of adapting Ellis' multi-perspective narrative into a slick, visually dynamic movie. Ellis' books have all dealt with similar 1980's themes from different perspectives and have woven in references to characters from his other works. For example, Rules of Attraction protagonist, Sean Bateman, is younger brother to American Psycho's Patrick Bateman. Avary's backward-forward filming and present-past-present timing gradually reveal the story, but he cannot put content into what is, in the end, an empty tale. 

Although the movie is set in the present day, the strong influence of the book and Avary's decision to weave in references to Ellis' other books keeps a '80's zeitgeist. The times having changed so dramatically over the years: the end of the Cold War; the flannel-clad nihilism descending from the Seattle scene; the disappearance of the rich, white boy as the movie bad guy; the return of heroin. But perhaps, most importantly, the world did not end.