A Disappointing Continuation

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Anyone who has read the original story will agree that this movie doesn't deserve to be noticed. Original story brings study of scares and affiliation for gruesome stories bringing to depravity of one great kid. In Stephen King's "Apt pupil" novel, Todd Bowden is so drawn by the stories of ones might to govern peoples lives and death that he tries to feel the rush of ending someones life. Also, Nazi character revives hiss "glorious days" by killing countless hobos. In the movie, however, kid is just reacting out of fright of being persecuted for covering war criminal..... TOTALY MISSSED POINT!

Stephen King's novella 'Apt Pupil' carries an interesting enough concept to grip the attention of readers who hold significant curiosity about the infamous Holocaust that took place during World War II at the hands of the German Nazi Party. It is understandable why director Bryan Singer would make this choice for a cinematic entry. After all, it is hard to exclude which literary works by King make a good, if not overtly promising qualification for a cinematic affair. The problem here however, is that Singer's rendition of King's novella doesn't quite capture the atmosphere and tension to make it a vehicle for genuine thrills, nor does it provides sufficient social commentary on Nazism or the related subject matter to fuel the atmosphere of its brooding story. With only a darkly engrossing performance by Ian McKellen playing the primary antagonist to support it, the film at least carries its absorbing subject material. But sadly it is not enough to save this film from the lack of tension and thrills it pervades. Set in 1984, this film follows 16-year old Todd Bowden (played by Brad Renfro) who crosses ties with an elderly man named Kurt Dussander (played by Ian McKellen) who he learns to be a former member of the Nazi Regime during WWII. The two form a mixed bond through Dussander's stories tackling his experience as a Nazi during the Holocaust. But as Todd fascination with Dussander grow stronger, he exhibits a gradual change in his normally friendly personality.Any film dealing with a topic such as the Holocaust often scores for a deeply somber ride, even when the plot doesn't actually take place in time period or locations of the atrocious events. As this film focuses on a modern day tale dealing with a young high school teen and his relationship wit a former Nazi member rather than the grisliness of the Holocaust, it is clear that the plot holds potential at providing an intelligent, tension-fueled story. Unfortunately, this film not only falls short of effort to accomplish an captivating story, but runs low on thrills and tension to make a gripping experience. In other words, the film leaves almost no room for crucial social commentary on Nazism and the atrocities of the mass extermination of Jews. The story proceeds as the main character's forms a tight relationship with Ian McKellen's character who indulges him in his past experience in mass slaughter of Jews under the Nazi regime. In the process, the young man experiences an unpleasant change in his personality including his alienation from his friends and family. It's an interesting idea, but it never quite lands. And the attempts at providing any sort of tension or suspense come to feeble results. Though Ian McKellen may provide an enthralling portrayal as the man with an eerily dark past, it does very little to redeem the film from the tensionless environment it proceeds. There are some thoroughly shocking moments such as an attempted slaughter of a cat and a gruesome murder of a man trapped in basement, but nothing that lights fire on its brooding psychological atmosphere. In the end, it makes you wonder what exactly director Bryan Singer was trying to get across when making this film.Apt Pupil is a disappointing psychological thriller that sheds light on a compelling concept but squanders it on a dull, tensionless atmosphere with little substance to be offered. In short, it carries strong performances by Ian McKellan and his young co-star Brad Renfro, but the final product overall is half-baked thriller that is almost instantly forgettable after you reach the end credits.

"Apt Pupil" is compelling, reasonably intelligent entertainment ruminating on the concept of evil in so-called "human" beings. What makes the most vile among us do the things that they do? Can the evil in people actually lie dormant, just waiting for years to be either awakened or re-awakened?It's not a perfect film, by any means, but it's still an interesting story, adapted by Brandon Boyce and director Bryan Singer from the Stephen King novella. What keeps it on track is an extremely commanding central performance by Sir Ian McKellen, playing a Nazi war criminal named Kurt Dussander, or as he would now rather be known, "Arthur Denker". He lives incognito in a California community, and is recognized by Todd Bowden (Brad Renfro), a high school student studying the Holocaust.What does Todd do with his knowledge? Instead of running to the authorities to report his findings, he's actually intrigued by what he's discovered. In return for Todds' silence, the surly Dussander is made to tell all of his horrifying war stories. Todd even goes so far as to obtain a Nazi costume when he then orders Dussander to wear.The balance of the story deals with this unpleasant and evolving relationship between the elder and the "pupil". Each man takes turns wielding power over the other, with Dussander claiming to have made copious notes of their meetings.Renfro does a solid job as this disturbing youngster, going through the motions of living an ordinary teen life but always returning to this dark obsession of his. The supporting actors are all excellent: Bruce Davison and Ann Dowd as the unknowing parents, Elias Koteas as a well meaning hobo, Joe Morton as an FBI agent, Jan Triska as a Jewish professor, James Karen as Todds' grandfather, and Michael Byrne as a Holocaust survivor. (Just check out Byrnes' horrified reaction when he realizes who his hospital roommate is.) David Schwimmer, sporting a goofy moustache, is passable as a dorky guidance counselor.Singers' filmmaking favours a straightforward, mostly no frills approach, which helps. The music score by John Ottman can be pretty unsubtle at times, though. This viewers' main gripe would be the whole segment with Koteas, which he feels adds unnecessary padding to a story that really goes on longer than it should.The ending is the major letdown, but considering how the novella concluded, it's all too easy to understand, in these sensitive times, why it was altered.A solid effort overall.Seven out of 10.

Apt Pupil is a simple story about a disturbed teenage boy living in urban Los Angeles. When he discovers that a neighbor of his is a war criminal who used to run a Nazi concentration camp, he can't resist blackmailing the poor old man. However as the film develops the old man begins to turn the tables on the boy and starts blackmailing him instead. A sort of psychological game develops between the two and along with it, an odd, scary friendship. Apt Pupil was originally written by Stephen King but in my opinion, the film is superior to the novel, which I feel is excessively violent and gratuitous in how it described rape, torture, murder and killing sprees. The novel may have done a better job of describing a psychotic mind, but Apt Pupil goes to the trouble of developing said mind and showing how a child loses his innocence and deteriorates into this sociopathic shell. I also like how the film portrayed Dussander as a sympathetic character at first, although I felt the book did that aspect better. Dussander is ashamed of himself for what he has done but as the film goes on, his mind, too, starts to lose itself and he starts to embrace nazism. This film itself is just plain scary in its depiction of human nature and what we're all capable of. Apt Pupil won't be liked by many because it requires an attention span, a tolerance of disturbing and dark material, and an imagination to appreciate. People who dislike this film are missing the point. It's a wonderful story of a partnership between two individuals who each have their demons that they must face, along with some deadly secrets that could cripple their existence. This film is spellbinding and dazzling. If you can take what it dishes out, you will love it. If you have a faint heart, go watch something else. But if you want to learn how two men blackmail each other and how ultimately their plan fails, watch this movie for the psychology of it. The direction by Bryan Singer is superb and the camera-work creates some of the most powerful and tragic scenes in recent memory. The part where the man in the hospital recognizes Dussander is gut-wrenching alone. This is an amazing film. If you want to look into the darkness inside yourself, watch this movie, and then contemplate it. You'd be surprised what you are capable of.