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USA 1987
Directed by
Marek Kanievska
98 minutes
Rated M

Reviewed by
Bernard Hemingway
2.5 stars

Less Than Zero

It is possible to see the ghost of Bret Easton Ellis’s 1985 novel ‘Less Than Zero’ beneath Marek Kanievska’s screen adaptation of it but only just, swamped as it is by Barbara Ling’s ever-so '80s production design which must have had the wardrobe, hair and make-up departments working overtime re-creating the latest in fashion statements of that kitschiest of decades whilst cinematographer Ed Lachman gives the up-market settings of Beverly Hills, Bel Air and Palm Springs an impenetrable sheen

I have not read Ellis’s originating text depicting the wasted lives of L.A. rich kids during the coked-up, partying early ‘80s. I gather that is a good thing as the film apparently bears only a family resemblance to what was not so much a traditional novel as a first person narrative. The first screenplay was written by Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Cristofer but it was ditched by the film’s co-producer. John Avnet. who baulked at the displays of drug-taking and sexual dissolution. The replacement script by Hurley Peyton cleaned most of this up so we can’t fully blame Kanievska, a British director who was hired because his first film Another Country (1984) had dealt with related subject matter successfully. Even so on completion the film was taken out of his hands.

The film opens on graduation day for Julian (Downey), Clay (Andrew McCarthy) and the latter’s girlfriend, Blair (Jami Gertz) who are besties at the same high school.) Clay who is Princeton-bound leaves Blair, an aspiring fashion model with Julian. , not a good idea, needless to say as he finds out and parts company from them. Julian’s father has set him up with his own music recording business but within a year Julian puts it up his nose. By Christmas Blair is begging Clay to come home and save Julian from himself. What ensues is a standard drug addict story of broken promises, outright lies and a loss of all dignity.
If the film had hewn to this story it could have been good. Not as good as Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream (2000) but a lot better than it is.

The finished result is a not-so merry-go-round of parties and night clubs with lots of drugs, some sex and a rock-heavy sound track from bands of the time such as Aerosmith and Van Halen as the trio drive from one venue to next in their little red Corvette.

There is little to hold one’s attention in all this bar Downey Jr’s performance which apparently could be described as Method acting as his own drug (but presumably not sex) habits spiraled out of control in real life.  Of the remaining headliners McCarthy who was a member of the so-called Brat-Pack of the time (he had starred in Pretty In Pink the previous year) and Gertz are effective although both actors gradually sank from sight. James Spader (also a Pretty In Pink alumnus) is still a headliner today and his performance as drug-dealer to the rich was well received however I found him a little too supercilious.

Less Than Zero (yes, the title does come from the Elvis Costello song) is a film that '80s buffs will enjoy but probably lose a broader audience. 

 

 

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