Far and away one of the funniest movies I have seen. The script is very smart and witting and the audience I saw laughed throughout most of the film. A real treat, I hope they get distribution soon so more people than just the festival circuit will see it.
Reviews
2 Reviews
Apt Pupil
(1998)
Overall, the movie is entertaining, thought provoking, and well worth seeing.
25 October 1998
Review: Apt Pupil (1998)
`I want to know everything.' That's what Todd Bowmen, a sixteen year old high school student, tells Arthur Denker, a fugitive Nazi war criminal. What Todd wants to know everything about is the Holocaust. Not only does he want to know about it; he wants to know every graphic detail and to hear all about Denker's involvement in the massacre.
Denker has no choice but to tell him, because he is being blackmailed. Todd has promised to turn Denker into the proper authorities, if he doesn't tell him about his crimes. So Denker tells him everything. The stories seem to be a little too much for Todd to handle and they begin to affect his life. Slowly, at first, but then sure enough, his grades plummet, he can't sleep, and he becomes anti-social.
It is not long before his entire life revolves around Arthur and his dreadful stories. The plot explores deeply the mentor/friend relationship that Arthur and Todd have. There is always a veil of distrust between the two, because they each are holding some secret over the other's head.
If there was only one reason to see this movie, it would be Ian McKellen's incredible performance as Arthur Denker. McKellen plays the part to perfection and he definitely deserves an Oscar nomination for his work here. The performance is reminiscent of his Oscar nominated work in 1995's Richard III, but he takes his role in Apt Pupil a step further. Brad Renfo is quite good as Todd, but he far overshadowed by Ian. The only other performance that is given any screen time is David Schwimmer, who plays Todd's guidance counselor. David does the best work of his entire career here; he is great.
Bryan Singer, known for directing the incredible The Usual Suspects, does a very good job here. His style matches perfectly with the material. The film is based on Steven King's novella, but Brandon Boyce, a first timer, wrote the screenplay.
Apt Pupil is very dark and disturbing and shows that evil exists everywhere. The most noticeable flaw is the running time. It ran about fifteen minutes too long, and would have been better if it was slightly faster paced.
Overall, the movie is entertaining, thought provoking, and well worth seeing.
Grade: A-
`I want to know everything.' That's what Todd Bowmen, a sixteen year old high school student, tells Arthur Denker, a fugitive Nazi war criminal. What Todd wants to know everything about is the Holocaust. Not only does he want to know about it; he wants to know every graphic detail and to hear all about Denker's involvement in the massacre.
Denker has no choice but to tell him, because he is being blackmailed. Todd has promised to turn Denker into the proper authorities, if he doesn't tell him about his crimes. So Denker tells him everything. The stories seem to be a little too much for Todd to handle and they begin to affect his life. Slowly, at first, but then sure enough, his grades plummet, he can't sleep, and he becomes anti-social.
It is not long before his entire life revolves around Arthur and his dreadful stories. The plot explores deeply the mentor/friend relationship that Arthur and Todd have. There is always a veil of distrust between the two, because they each are holding some secret over the other's head.
If there was only one reason to see this movie, it would be Ian McKellen's incredible performance as Arthur Denker. McKellen plays the part to perfection and he definitely deserves an Oscar nomination for his work here. The performance is reminiscent of his Oscar nominated work in 1995's Richard III, but he takes his role in Apt Pupil a step further. Brad Renfo is quite good as Todd, but he far overshadowed by Ian. The only other performance that is given any screen time is David Schwimmer, who plays Todd's guidance counselor. David does the best work of his entire career here; he is great.
Bryan Singer, known for directing the incredible The Usual Suspects, does a very good job here. His style matches perfectly with the material. The film is based on Steven King's novella, but Brandon Boyce, a first timer, wrote the screenplay.
Apt Pupil is very dark and disturbing and shows that evil exists everywhere. The most noticeable flaw is the running time. It ran about fifteen minutes too long, and would have been better if it was slightly faster paced.
Overall, the movie is entertaining, thought provoking, and well worth seeing.
Grade: A-
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