Apt Pupil
|
List Price: Our Price: $4.43 You Save: $5.52 (55%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $1.87 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Apt Pupil
Movie Review: Thought provoking; The evil that men do can rub off...
Summary: 5 Stars
There are a few Stephen King adaptations that are good, though most missed the mark. I thought Bryan Singer's vision of "Apt Pupil" left in (and left out) everything that was approprate. I admire Ian McKellan no end, and he did not disappoint. I always thought that Brad Renfro's auspicious debut in "The Client" would lead to great things. Here, he succeeds. It's a layered performance of unsettling discovery, conflict & resolution...and a few surprises. Elias Koteas, in a small role, was best of all. His role as street person/hustler was complete, and I must admit that his final scene lef me a bit unsettled, very sad. I will not blab anyhing away, but I thought this to be a fine and very upsetting film. I'm somewhat amused at the controversy involving Singer's shower room scene, where he asked a number of young males to appear nude (they signed affidavits of approval). No one really cared, except one guy sued him for misreprentation or whatever. (How humiliating was that for him?) This was a 1998 film. Brian de Palma's "Carrie" with Oscar-nominee Sissy Spacek (1976) had a brutal shower scene, full-frontal, the whole 9 yards, and nobody made issue. Nudity doesn't bother me, if it makes sense. I don't understand the fuss.Movie Review: A well done Stephen King film.
Summary: 5 Stars
I read the novella by Stephen King, it was very good. Then I watched this movie, and it was great (well acted, well shot, and a good deal faithful to the story), but the ending is different. King's original ending was very good and the ending here in the movie is very good too. I like both the novella and the film equally. I say this film did the source material justice. I recommend you read the book Different Seasons, which contains the written story, it is good, but the film is still really good. I recommend this if you are a fan of Stephen King and his movies. I recommend it and I will still recomend it to fans of this genre (and to fans of the novella + Stephen King) anyway. I Love it, it is a great film. But again, I say read the book, for it is equally good as well. This film is still really good. Bryan Singer did better with the X-men films. I give the film five stars.Movie Review: Chilling psychological thriller
Summary: 5 Stars
Apt Pupil is a thrilling movie that juxtaposes suburban life with the evil and corruption of a Nazi war criminal. The two leads are excellent actors. Brad Renfro plays a high school student who blackmails a Nazi war criminal (the outstanding Ian McKellen) into telling him everything (the who, the why, the where) of his crimes against humanity.
Of course, life can't be as simple as that, and a high school student isn't going to get the upper hand on a masterful, depraved man. The two men form a fascinating friendship, countered by their opposing viewpoints on history. Apt Pupil delivers some brilliant twists in which each man must determine his own destiny.
This is hands down the best adaptation of a Stephen King plotline. Don't miss out on this gem of a movie. If you enjoy this, try American History X.
Movie Review: "We had opened a door and couldn't be shut."
Summary: 5 Stars
A perceptive boy becomes overly fascinated in Nazi crimes, and discovers that his neighbor is a former SS officer. The boy blackmails the old man in an attempt to learn more details about the torture that took place in the concentration camps. The relationship between the two becomes complicated, with compassion, resentment, and darkness. The duo of Ian Mckellen and Brad Renfro are amazing to a scary and fascinating point. Even though the movie has been attacked and underappreciated, probably for its representation of the SS officer character and the dark side of humans. Just as life is not entirely good; humans also have many flaws. This does not mean the movie is bad because it focused on those flaws. You might learn eventually to see that even evil people are not entirely bad. This is an amazingly deep movie that will haunt you.Movie Review: Knowing that this film isn't well-known makes life miserable
Summary: 5 Stars
This adaptation of a Stephen King novella is very underrated, and I think it's due to the fact that it touches on some very mature issues. Instead of ghosts and demonic clowns, we have the Nazis and the Holocaust. This is a very dark film that focuses on a high school student from the 80's whose deep fascination with Nazism brings him close to one of his neighbors: a Nazi war criminal named Kurt Dussander. I didn't really care much about this film when it was still released on VHS. But now that I look back on Apt Pupil, I see it as an immensely powerful film that's been neglected for far too long. It has a deep and disturbing story, some incredibly good performances by Ian McKellen and Brad Renfro (R.I.P.), and some truly thought-provoking moments. Again, this should have never been overlooked. It's a very good film.