Apt Pupil [22]

The circle is almost complete. Three of the four Four Seasons novellas have been made into a movies. Bonus point for those that get the last story NOT made into a movie. Answer at bottom of review. This story is the most likely of the three to not to transfer well to the big screen since its mostly two people playing mind games with eachother. But the director Bryan Singer is the same guy who did Usual Suspects. He has that intimate directing style that could pull this one off. This movie needs a careful touch or the audience will loose its affinity to the characters. Neither of them are really sympathetic. Can you truely have sympathy for a WW2 Nazi criminal? How about a boy that blackmails him into telling him holocaust stories. The young boy's transformation due to listening to intimate and horrifying knowledge about the holocaust must be balanced and clean. If the transformation is not believable, the movie will tank. The story deals with this on level that movies will never touch. Bringing that out will require a good translation of the book to Hollywood's fickle story boarding technique and a caring direction even if the story boarding is "spot on". Check this movie out, but it won't be a date film. And I take no responsiblity for nightmares afterwards nor for the driving need to stuff small furry animals into the oven. The other leftover? Shawshank Redemption = Rita Heyworth and the Shawshank Redemption, Stand By Me = The Body, and the left over is....The Breathing Method. {AB}

Added: April 7th 2004
Reviewer: AB
29 Point Scale Score:    [22]

Related Movie Link (IMDB): IMDB
Hits: 2023
Language: english