Andrew Mccarthy Movie:

Editorial Review:
Dreary, pointless late-'80s novel by literary poseur Bret Easton Ellis focused on listless, shiftless, drug-sniffing, sex-swapping, dead-end California teens with too much money and time on their hands. Which just about sums up this movie, though it's not nearly as interesting as that. This is mostly due to the ridiculously cleaned-up script and lifeless direction, which whitewashes the baser depravity and replaces it with perversion-lite and fashion shows. It doesn't help that director Marek Kanievska is saddled with Brat Pack lesser (make that least) lights Andrew McCarthy and Jami Gertz. The only things that lift this film above the muck are the performances by James Spader as a particularly heinous drug dealer and Robert Downey Jr. as a rich-kid addict with no self-control. --Marshall Fine

Less Than Zero [Region 2] Reviews:
no diaper big enough...
2009-12-08 - ...to hold this load.

Hack director Marek Kanievska did not read Less Than Zero. No surprise there. But what you probably didn't know is that he is also a scatophiliac. Kanievska took the entire tone of the book and defecated on it. Then he placed a bunch of flags that said "Hollywood" and "Just Say No" all over the steaming mound. And these flagpoles, smeared with Kanievska's feces, penetrated the bloodstream of the story and spread all sorts of disease-causing bacteria that ate away at the very flesh of its characters until Less Than Zero the movie died a slow and painful death. Kanievska laughed with great joy at his latest scatological achievement, summoning a chorus line of turd angels to sing hymns of wasteful glory in his honor.

When asked why he didn't just release his 98-minute, pile of dung after-school-special with a title that didn't set a new standard for injustices done to great works of fiction, he replied, "Well, then I wouldn't get to [shih tzu] on anything."


A story told before it happened
2009-11-28 - This turns out to be the story of Downey Junior's life. Drugs, sex and rock n' roll.

"Based on the book by Bret Easton Ellis"? Well, sort of.
2009-07-30 - What can I say about this uninspired "retelling" of Bret's first novel?

The film adaptation doesn't contain the scenes and the tone I thought made the book so haunting and memorable.(The dead boy in the alley scene, the snuff film with the underage girl...) This film really can't be claimed that it is based on the book - it's more that it's inspired by the novel. Despite this downfall, the film is worth watching for any Bret Easton Ellis fan - if only to satisfy one's curiosity.

The film contains neither the perfectly depressing one-liners or the delightfully disturbing minor characters that make the book so interesting and engaging (Clay's sisters, Spin) The film made it seem as though Julian was the protagonist, while I always felt the novel was all about seeing the events unfold through Clay's eyes. One of the more endearing parts of the novel are Clay's 'flashbacks' of a better time, before he left for school. The film only touches on this in the beginning, and the flashback is about Blair, not about his parents, who which were the subjects of the flashbacks I found the most interesting. The lunch scene between Clay and his father is pure genius. The detachment between the father and son made me physically cringe. This scene is not included in the film at all.

The unfortunate thing about adapting films from books is that something is almost always lost in the 'translation'. 'American Psycho' is really the only one of the films adapted from his books that I feel captures the tone of the book while simultaneously compacting it into a watchable narrative without losing Bret's style, and this is due to the fact that Bateman himself is the narrator.

All and all, 'Less Than Zero' isn't a bad film, really. Just a bad adaptation. It captures what was both awesome and forgettable about 80s popular film, and fits the bill of any entertaining teen drama from that era (Including extravagant cocaine use by minors, too much New Wave, the once-hot but potential future star of Where Are They Now? James Spader). There are some touching moments, but it seems as though the film tried to hard find a conclusion the book didn't (and had a reason for not doing). After all, Julian doesn't die in the novel, and Blair certainly doesn't go back to Camden with Clay (Morrissey wouldn't be proud).

What's so melancholy about the novel is what the film failed to allude too: how upset, apathetic, nd lost Clay is now that he has changed and gained a new perspective, while his friends, sadly, have not.

And one serious complaint: Where is the Disappear Here billboard? It's integral to the imagery of the novel, and is absent in the film (unless I missed it.)

All and all: If you're a fan of Bret's books, give this film a shot. It's worth watching once, but don't be upset if it hardly even attempts to capture the mood or purpose of the novel.

Critics didn't like this film...then again, I dont like critics.
2009-07-26 - Marshall Fine's idiotic and pointless review notwithstanding, this is one of the great sleeper films of the 1980's. It was lost in the theaters but later developed a HUGE following after the VHS was released. Many of my fellow amazonians have made cogent and reflective comments on the film so I won't go into plot , writing, etc. I will say, that the only REAL reason that critics panned the film was because they felt the degradation didn't go far enough. This is ironic in that the studio decided to tone down the novel for the screenplay for fear the graphic degradation of the novel would be too much. Go figure. I say, enjoy the movie. Robert Downey Jr. is at the top of his form as is James Spader. The photography is beyond transcendent as is the direction, and the score; well....it can't be described....Thomas Newman out did himself, and very early in his career to boot.

Andy, Jami, and Rob give an outstanding performance!
2009-04-12 - This is my all time favorite movie! I read the novel by B. Ellis and I myself liked the film better. Some scenes in this really stand out. Andrew and Jami's acting performances make this film real. I am suprised Robert Downey Jr. didn't recieve an award for his outstanding performance. Along with the acting, the soundtrack and direction, the colorful and exciting atmosphere, make this film an 80s classic. Less than Zero DESERVES 5 stars!