Movie Guys: 'Apt Pupil' an apt lesson in evil

* Grades: Jeff, B; Dave C.

* Starring: Ian Mckellen, Brad Renfro, Bruce Davison, Elais Koteas and Joe Morton.

* Director: Bryan Singer.

* Screenplay: Brandon Boyce.

* Rated: R for brief nudity, violence and profanity.

* Running time: 100 minutes.

* Playing at: Regal Cinemas Boulder Station, Regal Cinemas Village Square, Rancho Santa Fe 16, Cinedome 12 Henderson, UA Green Valley, UA Showcase mall.

Synopsis:

Todd Bowden (Brad Renfro) is one of the top students in his high school class and a typical American 16-year-old, until he uncovers a deadly secret: Far from suspicion, Nazi war criminal Kurt Dussander (Ian McKellen) has been quietly living in Todd's hometown. Obsessed with the atrocities Dussander committed during the war, Todd begins to blackmail the old man. In exchange for the teenager's silence, Dussander must reveal his evil past.

Jeff:

"Apt Pupil" is about pure evil. There is no doubt about that. It's an evil that contaminates and corrupts the mind and soul. In this case, it inhabits the mind of Todd, an honor student, whose obsession with the accounts and tragedies of the Holocaust begin to change the spirt and essence of the teen.

Director Bryan Singer doesn't waste any time beginning Todd's search for a Nazi concentration camp soldier whom he spotted on a bus one day -- it all happens in the opening credits. We get to the story immediately. It's not about the search, but the interaction and horrors between two people generations apart, and the need for evil to fester and grow like a virus in the minds of the impressionable.

Dave: Unfortunately, the interaction Jeff is speaking of is about as horrifying as a 10-year-old trick-or-treater on Halloween night dressed up as the Great Pumpkin of "Peanuts" fame. Based on a Stephen King novella (from his book "Different Seasons"), the movie leaves out the most chilling aspect of the story -- the actual stories that Dussander, the one-time Nazi soldier (a brilliant performance by McKellen), shares with the studious teen Todd (Renfro of "The Client").

Oh sure, we hear of a few atrocities that the Nazi elder had ordered and witnessed, followed by a nightmarish dream that the young student awakens from in a cold sweat. But after that, the film takes a lackadaisical turn that produces little shock and nothing of interest. Where are chilling tales of Nazi camps? The disturbing transitions from past to present? The terror that makes for a potentially great King movie? I'll tell you where those can't be found, and that is in this disappointing flick.

Jeff:

Dave, this isn't a documentary. The last thing we need is to hear story after story of Holocaust atrocities and historical footage of the Allies liberating concentration camps. "Schindler's List" was quite enough, thank you. This is about psychological terror and its consequences. Who needs flashbacks? We can imagine the stories he's told throughout this unusual friendship.

Singer brilliantly conveys stories told by Dussander as hallucinations within Todd's mind: When he's in the gym shower, his teenage colleagues slowly become thin, ghostly victims of the Holocaust. That is where the terror lies -- in one's own mind and the influence of evil. What about the chilling game of cat and mouse that ensues between Dussander and Todd? A battle of the minds, so to speak.

Todd is obsessed with first-hand accounts of the Holocaust, and puts Dussander through mental torture in recounting unspeakable events, making him put on Nazi uniforms and marching in the kitchen. Todd believes he's in control, but his actions awaken the monster within Dussander -- a monster that has been quietly sleeping in a darkened corner of his soul. But Dussander has a plan of his own. Therein lies the suspense.

Dave:

BORING! By the first 20 minutes of the film, we get the point. To suggest that the psychological suspense lies in the developing trust and relationship between teacher and student is like asking the audience to bear the pretentious filler that Singer creates simply for his own camera pleasure. Not that there is anything wrong with that; there just seems to be more emphasis on the direction than King's story.

It would be easy to blame Singer, whose last film was 1995's impressive "The Usual Suspects," but the fault falls on first-time screenwriter Brandon Boyce. The script sways away from the events that make King's "Apt Pupil" the imaginative horror tale that it is. Maybe I'm jaded by today's standards, but there is nothing shocking or even scary found in Boyce's script compared to the works of the master of horror writer of our generation.

Jeff:

I can't answer that one, Dave. After all, I'm a film critic, not a book reviewer. I can only review what happens on screen and take it on its own merit.

To say that we get the point in the first 20 minutes of the film is ludicrous: The movie is just getting started and has wonderful results. Todd goes from an 'A' student to a failure in his studies and his personal life. His friends, girlfriend and passion for sports are all gone. The evil is winning. Renfro is spellbinding. His innocent and vacant gaze make it seem as though his mind is a contaminated sponge, soaking up the poison spewed by Dussander.

As for McKellen, I sure hope to see an Oscar nomination come in February for his brilliant and haunting portrayal of an aging Nazi monster. Singer's direction is flawless and captures the existence of evil. In the end, "Apt "Pupil's" message is that bigotry and hatred are learned; that they aren't genetic or determined by gender, but taught and handed down generation to generation. As for Todd Bowden -- honor student, loving son and boyfriend -- the evil is passed on and exists in him, a never- ending cycle. What he chooses to do with this knowledge, no one knows.

MOVIE BUZZ

Arnie Update:

Last week, we reported that director Marcus Nispel had abruptly left the Arnold Schwarzenegger film "End of Days" under a cloud of controversy. Now, after scrambling to find a new helmer for the project, producers have hired Peter Hyams ("The Relic," "Capricorn One") to take over. Sources say James Cameron recommended Hyams to Schwarzenegger. ""End of Days" is set at the turn of the millennium, when Satan comes to New York City in search of a bride, and a former cop (Arnie, who else?) is the only person who can stop the destruction of the world. Again.

Stone's last stand?:

Oliver Stone ("Platoon," "JFK") may go back to the battleground, but not in Vietnam. Instead, he is being wooed to develop and possibly direct the George Armstrong Custer biopic "Marching to Valhalla." The story focuses on Custer's life from West Point through Gettysburg, and into his final battle at the Little Big Horn, according to the Hollywood Reporter. We hope Stone doesn't discount the "Single Arrow Theory" when showing Custer's last stand.

And finally ...:

As a sure sign of true armageddon, Disney's "Armageddon" will most likely crack the $200 million mark this weekend. As of last week, it needed only $370,864 to reach the magic number. It just goes to prove a movie doesn't need to be good to make a ton of money. It just needs to be loud.

NAME THAT FLICK

"Kill the brain and you kill the ghoul." Charles White was the first to call and correctly identify the quote spoken from George A. Romero's classic horror film, "Night of the Living Dead." Way to go, Charles!

Now, for this week's chilling quote. Who said this and in what film: "Do not put your faith in such trinkets of deceit. We are in Transylvania, and Transylvania is not England. Our ways are not your ways, and you shall see many strange things"? Does it sound familiar? If you think you know, call The Movie Guys Hotline at 225-9026 or e-mail us at [email protected]. Be sure to spell your name and leave your daytime phone number, and if you're the first correct caller/e-mailer, we will print your name right here in our column for the entire Las Vegas Valley to read.

See you next week, if you dare!

THE MOVIE GUYS, starring Jeff Howard and Dave Neil, appears Fridays in the Sun (additional material provided by Thomas Feeney). You can also read their capsule reviews of movies in Las Vegas Weekly magazine and watch their reviews every Friday on Channel 3's 11 p.m. newscast. Plus, check them out online at: lasvegassun.com/sun/sunlife/movies.

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