Structurally, this production has much going for it: good camera work, decent direction, characters that are more than cardboard cutouts, and an actual beginning and end in spite of its trendy flashes forwards and backwards.
As compelling drama, however, it falls flat. As in all the works of author Ellis, an urge to sensationalize ordinary human behavior by way of portraying it as grotesque arrives without any center or meaning. Unlike political satire or compelling internal psychodrama, for example, such effort lacks any objective frame of reference. Revealing frailties and hypocrisies of contemporary college students in the rarefied and exclusive atmosphere of (transparently) Bennington College is in and of itself something of a bore. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll have been done to death in films much better than this one.
I was nevertheless much impressed that some of the principal actors and cameos went so clearly against type. It took guts for teen idol Van Der Beek to take on the role of a hyposexed drug dealer, or for grand dames like Kurtz and Dunaway to play sappy old broads. There are other little bits of acting to admire here as well, so it is far from a complete loss.
As compelling drama, however, it falls flat. As in all the works of author Ellis, an urge to sensationalize ordinary human behavior by way of portraying it as grotesque arrives without any center or meaning. Unlike political satire or compelling internal psychodrama, for example, such effort lacks any objective frame of reference. Revealing frailties and hypocrisies of contemporary college students in the rarefied and exclusive atmosphere of (transparently) Bennington College is in and of itself something of a bore. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll have been done to death in films much better than this one.
I was nevertheless much impressed that some of the principal actors and cameos went so clearly against type. It took guts for teen idol Van Der Beek to take on the role of a hyposexed drug dealer, or for grand dames like Kurtz and Dunaway to play sappy old broads. There are other little bits of acting to admire here as well, so it is far from a complete loss.