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Apt Pupil (DVD, 1999, Closed Caption)
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Todd Bowen (Brad Renfro) plays a valedictorian who is a WWII Nazi history buff. Nazi war criminal escapee, Kurt Dussender's (Sir Ian McKellen), living a relatively private life in Todd's successful suburbanite town. Add major quality that Stephen King wrote the novella this film is based upon & try to imagine what shape the forces of evil take when the astute, presumably anti-Nazi buff, American youth recognizes & (more or less) stalks the everyday life of Dussender, a US citizen, then confronts him. If I spotted a missing Nazi war criminal, bet on it I'd 'anonymously' report it to the F.B.I.. But, not King's Bowen, of course. There'd be no emotional tension involved in my dull response! Bowen follows Dussender (Himmler's henchman who gassed the genocidal chambers, etc.) to his home under the pretense of just wanting to listen to his stories about being a Nazi. Dussender initially puts up great resistance in denial of his true identity & Nazi criminal history. But, the apt pupil has already stalked Dussender enough to have collected so much research on him he's nearly gone into pro forensics--lifting fingerprints from Dussender's mailbox, for example. The sharp but charming & innocent looking fair-haired younger man surprisingly delivers to Dussender a door step "quid pro quo" threat: either Dussender spill his guts to Bowen about his Nazi history or Bowen reveals who Dussender is to US authorities. What's surprising is Dussender let's Bowen in & doesn't hold him hostage or kill him. But, Bowen's more calculating, prepared for their meeting & shrewd beyond his years. He recites Dussender the typical line: 'if anything should happen to me all the data I've amassed on you is where others will find it'. Bowen's got Dussender in 'Check', for the moment. Let the power plays between an older & younger man commence. Bowen's boldness & self-confidence is uncanny for a young guy. I've noticed King credits children & youths in many of his works. I like it that Stephen King clearly understands that the younger age of a person doesn't mean they are incapable, stupid, or powerless. Stephen King's novella, Brandon Boyce's screen play & Bryan Singer's film direction deliver a most believable psychological drama by braiding the Nazi torturer's brainwashed, sick & twisted, curs-ed past with the #1 student's own sick & twisted obsession with evil in the present. I will repeatedly write as a film critic, no living actor can touch how Sir Ian McKellen goes into character & becomes that being. This time he IS eerily Dussender. Is there an accent, a face, a role that McKellen can't totally embrace? How versatile is his vitae? How meticulous is McKellen script selections? I can trust they are worthy of his great timing, gestures & line delivery. It must have been daunting for Renfro to play this particular power-struggling role aside the master actor McKellen. It is such an intimate power play between two forcefully determined men. I view it as a true test of Renfro's acting ability which he does anything but fail. As the apt pupil, I'm impressed with actor Renfro. I'll look for him in more films. So should casting agents & directors! I cannot possibly recount more of the story. That would be like revealing a whole nude body instead of just a little peek of shoulder. I will add that the special effect graphics were quite well done to suggest the very spirits of states of minds traveling in time to & fro.Read full review
A great adaptation of a Stephen King short story. Much better ending than the book, I must say. It was much more gratifying for the main character not to be discovered as a murderer and for being able to manipulate and threaten to ruin the life of his guidance counsellor by accusing him (falsly) of pedophilia than to be shot to death by policemen. It would have been a tragedy, and the world would have lost a brilliant criminal mind. We need more people like this in Washington, DC. I loved the movie. Pity the boy who played Todd died so young. He is convincing in every role he has ever played. I first read the novella in a book called Different Seasons. After I finished reading it I said to myself, "This would make a great movie". Then, on a whim, I typed it into search in Ebay dvds, and lo and behold, there it was, and I bought it immediately. The story was cut short by about a dozen or so bodies, but it was even, and interesting, and watchable.Read full review
Apt Pupil - the movie and the film - works well on so many levels. On the surface, it's a great thriller. Anyone intigued by psychology or true crime will be spellbound by this movie. Like many of Stephen King's stories, there are other powerful themes to be examined. In this instance, I had to ask myself, "Is evil born, or is it created? Do people always choose what they become? Is it choices they make or situations they're forced into? A combination of the two? Or are some people just born with a propensity for evil?" Brad Renfro, sadly now dead from a heroin overdose, and Ian McKellen each gave chilling performances. Todd, Renfro's character, spots a man he believes to be a war criminal and begins following him. The man he investigates, played by McKellen, is a quiet old hermit happy to live in a dingy, 60's dated home and watch Mr. Magoo cartoons while smoking and drinking heavily. Curiosity gets the best of the cat that is Todd, and he confronts Mr. Denker. The two develop an odd relationship in which Todd grills Mr. Denker about what it was really like in the Nazi death camps. While Todd threatens to report Mr. Denker to the Israelis if Denker doesn't play his game of twenty questions, the viewer is reasonably certain that Todd and Denker are kindred spirits. No one will report anyone. As Todd and Mr. Denker become involved in their discussions, Todd seems to change. Or, is it that Todd's true amoral, evil nature finds a pied piper to lead it out? In some ways, Mr. Denker comes to know Todd better than his own parents or best friend have ever known him. The old adage of "It takes one to know one," comes to mind here. The movie moves at a solid pace. There are no slow sections, and the director chose to keep the focus on the characters, avoiding quick video-style cuts that permeate many thriller/horror films. Apt Pupil is not for the sensitive. And it's not for children, so wait until the kids go to bed.Read full review
What a delight to stumble upon this movie by chance. Had it not been for the name of Sir Ian McKellen listed as the leading actor I would have missed this one. The story hasn't ever been told before, to my knowledge. It's a riveting one, too. An astute student takes his studies of WWII so seriously that when he recognizes his neighbor as a Nazi war criminal, he's extra anxious to meet him. There begins the action between the pupil and the closeted Nazi war criminal (McKellen). When I write that I bet you can't possibly imagine what will transpire between them, I mean it. The story's that well written. Don't forget to buy a copy of this DVD and watch it several times before shelving it.
The raving beauty, Natasha Richardson (of the Regrave family) isn't the only thing that makes her performance smoking hot. Richardson becomes Stella in such a convincing way that it's mesmerizing to watch her. This is also more than a few very sexy scenes in a garden house with a criminal. It's a terrific psycho-drama that devles very deeply into the topic of male rivalry in business. Sir Ian plays the psychiatrist with a God complex who takes it out on Richardson's character. Watching these two great British actors in the same film, the same scenes, exchanging words from a very tight script is a delight to a real film buff who wants all of the filmmaking aspects to blend well together, as this movie does. I can't imagine have the same quality of success with a film with McKellen & Richardson. Highly recommended viewing.Read full review
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