Michael Jackson Movie:

				Salesrank: 237935
		Used Price: $25.45
		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
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

Apt Pupil [Region 2] Reviews:
Let the Person Who Has Never Had Evil Thoughts Be the First to Throw a Cat in the Oven...
2009-12-15 - WOW! What a wonderful opportunity to experience some "transferance fantasy" moments. Strangely enough, I am a Jewish Senior Citizen who kept finding myself inside all of the main parts in this film. It was BIZARRE!!!

At one point I hated. At another point, I was the object of hate. Another point I was scared and then of course, the person scaring others. I was just plain oblivious for a while and too implausible to be real the next moment. At one horrible second, I was being shoved into an oven, but quickly changed character and was pushing others into the furnaces.

This film, as panned as it was by Critics, got my stomach churning and my head throbing. I also felt a little sexual arousal during a few scenes, but I'd prefer to think it was Brad's body and attitude that ignigted my passions.

The nice thing about a fantasy is the that at the end of it, you can come back to real life. Hopefully your real life is better than those portrayed in "Apt Pupil."

my private review
2009-09-09 - this DVD, being in region 2, i watch the film in English and in German with German subtitles. one of the best dvd's i have, the film deals with the atrocities of ww2, and trying to understand why it happened. you can argue, that the German officers did what they did. if not, they were disposed of.a great film, if your a history buff. Sir ian mckellen and the late brad renfro were superb.

Could have been great
2009-06-23 - I was very disappointed in this movie. There are several reasons why I wanted to see it, and they could have made it really well, but failed. The book is excellent. It's a novella in the Stephen King book, Different Seasons. A couple other stories in here were made into movies, including The Shawshank Redemption directed to perfection by Frank Darabont, and The Body which was directed by Rob Reiner and renamed Stand By Me. Both were excellent stories in the book and adapted very well into movies. Apt Pupil in the book was great. Very intriguing, great suspense, and got into the minds of the characters which is what really makes a good narration.

So adding that fact as well as that the movie was directed by Bryan Singer, who directed The Usual Suspects, which is one of my favorite movies, I was excited about seeing this. I thought that Ian McKellen and Brad Renfro were perfect casting. I couldn't see anyone else in those roles doing it better. I thought David Schwimmer was completely miscast as Ed French, who had a much bigger role in the book. I also don't think this movie was really dark enough and nowhere near as suspenseful as the book.

The main thing they should have changed about this was the script. They really chopped this down without building any tension and it really could have been better with some narration. I think the best book to movie adaptations are the ones with a narrator which Shawshank and Stand By Me both had, which helps you to learn things about characters and know what's going on in their minds. This, along with Christine and Hearts in Atlantis, is one of the worst Stephen King movie adaptations I have ever seen.

Apt Pupik
2009-01-30 - I LOVED the book. The movie did not, unfortunately, include as much detail as the book. Todd's transformation could have been a little more dramatic.

Try harder next time.....
2008-12-13 - Of the 4 stories in "Different Seasons" this should have easily made the best and most disturbing movie (Shawshank Redemption and Stand by Me were the other novella-to-movie adaptations from this book - that should demonstrate how great the book was). However this movie falls far short of expectations. Between pitiful acting, poor direction and a horrible screenwriting adaptation it is hard to tell where this went so wrong but a combination of all those factors doom this from the start. Ian McKellan wrangles as much from the script as possible, but Renfro never fails to bring down every scene he's in. Fans of the written story wanting to see the film version will feel cheated. Those experiencing only the film version will never know how deeply disturbing the written story was. And that should be considered a crime.