Apt Pupil

Knowing who directed this and the suggestive material, makes it even more disturbing.

Brad Renfro died way too young. It's painful to think, especially with young and talented performers, where their careers would be now if they were still here. It's sad to think about.

Level "Entertaining" • 6 ❤ • You may or may not enjoy this.

Ian McKellan is a Nazi war criminal hiding long-term in suburban America. Four decades after the war, a bright high school student with a fascination about WWII marks him on a bus ride and the two embark on a lengthy game of one-upsmanship. Oddly, the kid seems the more villainous of the two, though McKellan is himself far from heroic.

I can't shake the sense that the concept was more daring than the film in this case. Featuring a Nazi in a decidedly grey light is a different take, for sure, but I felt like the filmmakers were always too afraid to go anywhere truly risqué with that material, and the core relationship between the two leads is toothless and pantomimed. Maybe that can be primarily chalked up to acting - Brad Renfro, who plays the kid, is positively grating in the role - but even removing that from the equation doesn't completely settle my stomach.

It's a film that dances and loiters, but rarely has much to say of genuine power or meaning; wannabe edgy, using the taboo of an old war uniform to mask a serious lack of substance. Even the big reveal at the end, when everything comes apart at the seams, is hollow, telegraphed and half an hour behind schedule.

3 Thoughts After Watching ‘Apt Pupil’:

1. It’s difficult to enjoy a movie when the lead characters are extraordinarily unlikeable.

2. This is one of those films that inspire the oh-so-unfortunate post-screening thought: what was the point? Renfro’s character didn’t evolve into anything new. He was loony from the start. No journey there. I didn’t find their “outsmarting each other” relationship very compelling. I didn’t feel any stakes. I didn’t care about his grades. The girlfriend, the best friend... both basically filler. It just all felt a bit long and disconnected.

3. This probably works better as the novella it was intended to be, or even a single Twilight Zone episode.