Apt Pupil
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Brad Renfro, Ian McKellen, Joshua Jackson, Michael Reid MacKay, Mickey CottrellBrand: MCKELLEN,IAN
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 111 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1999-04-13
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Movie Reviews of Apt Pupil
Movie Review: Sickening
Summary: 5 Stars
When I discovered a Stephen King short story provided the impetus for Bryan Singer's 1998 film "Apt Pupil," I cringed in horror. Not because I thought the movie would succeed wildly, but because I am all too familiar with cinematic adaptations of King's work. For every "Carrie" and "The Shawshank Redemption" we must suffer through a plethora of half-realized schlock made only to cash in on the writer's fan base. I remember the story upon which this film is based, although my recollections are vague because I read it roughly fifteen years ago. Having said that, I am fairly certain Singer takes substantial liberties with his retelling. Changing a few things around isn't all bad, however, since even King admits that certain horrific scenes shoehorned into film versions of his stories work so well that he wishes he had thought of them during the writing process. But going into this film took a bit of nerve on my part, specifically steeling said nerves, because I dreaded seeing another piece of "Stephen King presents" junk. I also worried over the presence of Brad Renfro, who has done good work before but sometimes doesn't fit in a role well. I needn't have worried.
"Apt Pupil" is the story of Todd Bowden, a brilliant high school student and athlete with everything going for him in life. His family--father Richard (Bruce Davidson), mother Monica (Ann Dowd), grandfather Victor (James Karen) and grandmother Agnes (Marjorie Lovett)--care about him deeply. His friend Joey (Joshua Jackson) and his girlfriend Becky Trask (Heather McComb) provide plenty of entertainment away from home. So why would Todd Bowden become so interested in the Third Reich after learning about it in a history class? His interest, it seems, centers on an enigmatic man living nearby who Todd suspects may well be the notorious German war criminal Kurt Dussander (Ian McKellen). Young Bowden's copious and thorough research provides him with enough evidence to walk up to the man's door and confront him with the findings. Predictably, Dussander tries to deny everything, claiming he is merely a poor German immigrant who smokes and drinks too much and who is in poor health. While these things are certainly true, so is the fact that this man bears the responsibility for the deaths of thousands of Jews. Instead of turning Dussander into the authorities, Bowden blackmails the aging criminal into telling him what really happened during the holocaust.
What follows does not bear out in any way Hannah Arendt's "banality of evil" phrase. There's nothing banal at all about Dussander; he's a horrifying human being who rapidly begins to regress back into his old role thanks to Todd's demands. As for Bowden, the progression of the film reveals that he is as sick, if not sicker, than this aging war criminal. Todd purchases a uniform through a mail order house and forces Dussander to march around the house while wearing it. Why? To give Dussander's stories more color, I guess, but it's very warped and not at all healthy. Eventually, Bowden comes to regret his intervention in this man's life when Dussander begins to fight back. Blackmail turns to counter blackmail as Bowden and Dussander spar for a position of supremacy in the relationship. Both degenerate under the pressure, and it isn't too long before murder enters the picture. Perhaps the conclusion is inevitable and predictable, but Bowden's sinister confrontation with his high school guidance counselor, Edward French (David Schwimmer), is anything but predictable. The young man vividly reveals how well he assimilated the lessons taught to him by Dussander. He is indeed an apt pupil.
"Apt Pupil" works so well thanks to the strengths of its two lead characters. Renfro has rarely turned in as good a performance as he does here, giving us a nuanced interpretation of a troubled young man with plenty of dark secrets to hide. McKellen, it should go without saying, is always good in anything he chooses to take on. "Apt Pupil" is no exception as the veteran actor radiates chills with a look, a smile, or a slight movement of his body. Renfro and McKellen have great chemistry together onscreen, so much so that it is difficult to imagine any other actors in their place. What doesn't work as well is the confrontation between French and Bowden. For some inexplicable reason, I sympathized with Todd Bowden and secretly hoped he would come out on top. This sensation is not a positive one, and I wondered afterwards if director Singer wanted the audience to feel this way. It would make sense to try and bring viewers to a closer understanding of Bowden's particular sickness since by doing so we would come away with a better understanding of how the Third Reich managed to inspire so many people to help them carry out their sordid activities. Whatever the case, "Apt Pupil" is definitely a disturbing film. As for the DVD version, supplements on the disc include a trailer, cast and crew biographies and filmographies, and a short behind the scenes featurette.
Summary of Apt Pupil
A student studying the Holocaust recognizes an old man as Nazi war criminal in hiding and decides to introduce himself.Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 23-MAR-2004
Media Type: DVD
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
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