Less Than Zero

Directed by: Marek Kanievska
2 stars
::spoilers::

I had just read the book by Bret Easton Ellis, so it was difficult for me to watch the movie without making comparisons. Therefore, the entire movie was focused on thinking, “What in the hell? That didn’t happen in the movie.”
The similarities are:
- Character names & basic bios.
- Set in Los Angeles in the ‘80’s.
- Lots of drug use.
- Lots of random partying.
- One character is at the bottom of a downward spiral.
& that’s where the similarities end. In the book, Robert Downey Jr.’s character is mentioned a few times & has a pivotal role in the last twenty pages. In the movie, he’s involved all the way through. In the book, Jami Gertz’s character is only casually involved. In the movie, she’s constant. There’s a love triangle in the movie. There are love pentagrams in the novel. & all of the highly disturbing moments towards the end of the book are suspiciously left out. & since when was Andrew McCarthy’s character such a boy scout?
It was a watered down version of an okay novel. The actor’s performances were fine. Robert Downey, Jr., as always is out of sight, but Gertz and McCarthy are their typical whiny/smirky selves (in that order).
Instead of serving as an insider’s view on what life was like for a college freshman coming home to LA in the excess of the ‘80’s, the film turned itself into a full-length After School Special. Boo.