Apt Pupil (1998)

At the top of his game, Stephen King has a real gift for mining monsters--zero-at-the-bone horror--out of everyday faces and places. Adapted from a novella in the 1982 collection that also spawned Stand by Me and The Shawshank Redemption, Apt Pupil looks at first as if it might draw authentically enlightening terror from the soul-cancer that makes blood relations of a Southern California golden boy (Brad Renfro) and an aging Nazi war criminal (Sir Ian McKellen). Turned on by a high-school course about the Holocaust, Todd Bowden (such a bland handle for this top-of-his-class sociopath!) tracks down Kurt Dussander, a former Gestapo killer hiding in the shadows of sunny SoCal. Blackmailing the old man into sharing his firsthand stories of genocide, the teenager trips out on the virtual reality of the monster's memories. There's perverse play here on the way a kid hungry for knowledge can bring a long-retired teacher or grandparent back to life. Truly superb as James Whale in Gods and Monsters, McKellen brings subtlety to this Stephen King creepshow: his dessicated Dussander is like a mummy or vampire revivified by Todd's appetite for atrocity.

Considerable talent intersects in Apt Pupil: It's director Bryan Singer's first film since The Usual Suspects, that enormously popular, rather heartless thriller-machine. The outstanding cast also includes David Schwimmer as a Jewish guidance counselor pathetically impotent in the face of Todd's talent for evil, and Bruce Davison as Todd's All-American Dad, lacking the capacity to even imagine evil. And the story itself has the potential for gazing into the heart of darkness right here in Hometown, U.S.A. But Apt Pupil just turns ugly and unclean when it trivializes its subject, equating Holocaust horrors with slamming a cat into an oven or offing a nosy vagrant (Elias Koteas). Reducing the great spiritual abyss that lies at the center of the 20th century to cheap slasher-movie thrills and chills is reprehensible. Both Todd and the writers of Apt Pupil should have heeded the old saw: When supping with the devil, best use a long spoon. --Kathleen Murphy Amazon.com

What Is Evil?...

I loved Stephen King's Different Seasons, except for one thing. I always thought that the story APT PUPIL was about fifty pages too long. The film version takes care of this concern, distilling PUPIL down to it's basic elements: old evil passing itself on to a young, all too eager student. Ian McKellen (yep, Gandolf himself!) is perfectly, quietly malevolent as the ancient nazi war criminal, hiding out in suburbia. Brad Renfro plays Todd Bowden, the normal-looking high school kid, concealing a darkness that appears to be insatiable and without limits. Todd fools his family, friends, and guidance counselor (David Schwimmer), into believing he is just another highly gifted teenager. In reality, he is a sociopathic wretch, coasting along by gaining the misplaced trust of others. Studying the holocaust in history class brings out Todd's blackened interior, causing him to hunt down and ensnare McKellen's character. What follows is a study of twisted evil in the midst of apparent normalcy. Todd and his "teacher" develop a seemingly symbiotic relationship that is in actuality purely parasitic. They are destroying each others souls. APT PUPIL's horror lies in it's use of demonic evil in broad daylight. Most of the movie is played out in the sunny afternoon. Evil doesn't wait for nightfall. It hides in plain sight, looking clean-cut and well-adjusted... April 10, 2008

In memorance of Brad Renfro

The death of Brad Renfro shocked me. I watched this and other films by him, but by far this is a remendous achievement and it's a shame he didn't get the press or attention other celebrities get when they pass on. His role in this film demonstrates his tremendous acting ability, although it wasn't realized by the powers that be in Hollywood.

I'll miss him, but I have his films to keep his memory fresh in my mind.

January 25, 2008

Well done, but could have been better

This movie is from a short story by Steven King. The book was better, but, the actors in this film were sincere. Brad Renfro was perfect as the smart, successful, spoiled only child of upper middle class parents. Sir Ian was a good choice as the elderly, but still dangerous, ex-nazi officer that Brad gets obsessed with. Making the miserable man re-live his experiences as a murder of innocents, because the boy threatens to turn him in to Israeli officials. The ending should not have strayed too far from the actual story ending, almost as if the movie set had to close down within 10 minutes or they'd be charged an extra fee, it seemed rushed for no reason. Enjoy! January 16, 2008

I was a little disappointed

With the ending of this the first time I saw it after I checked it out at the library because there was a song by the heavy metal band Anthrax that kept more to the original story from Stephen King where he told the ending of how it too something like 6 hours for the authorities to bring the kid prodigy of this Dusannder (Nazi War Criminal) down with thier weapons of mass destruction in a harrowing shoot and chase sequence that was in the short story of the book Different Seasons by King. The movie ending was entirely different but about 3/4 of it follows the story like but I saw an interview with Brian Singer the director on the tv show The Directors and he said that he toned it down because he's Jewish and is still fasinated by the whole idea of 'Nazi-ism' just as a study point, kind of an odd thing for a jewish person to say but I can sort of see his point to an extent.
It makes you wonder why George W.anker Bush one dictator killed in Iraq and supports or props up another one in Pervez Musharrif of Pakistan?

email: laughingpig1@yahoo.com November 20, 2007

they messed up one thing

Most excellent rendition from the Stephen King story, however they screwed up one thing and that was the final scene. What happened? That final scene would have not taken up that much time and would have really been the real ending. I suppose it doesn't matter, but why be PC about it because those things happen all the time? I can still see that final scene in my head, the kid on the hill, the cars down on the freeway, but for some reason they changed it in the movie. Well anyways peoples even though they screwed up that part it is still a very good story and I hope you like it. Great cast in this movie you will like the cast yes yes! August 26, 2007

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