Apt Pupil (1998)

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

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.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

This critically acclaimed multi award winning Stephen King adaptation is a weird creature, a dark thriller tale which makes you question the definition of evil.It tells the story of a boy who discovers that a neighbour is an infamous war criminal, a high ranking nazi responsible for the deaths of countless people. He decides to blackmail him, he is fascinated and wants to know more about the nazi history. But the more he learns the more he takes a turn for the worse and the mind games between the man and boy escalate.Not only is Apt Pupil dark and highly thought provoking but its also oddly homoerotic, heavy undertones from several different sources and I cannot figure out for the life of me why these were included.The cast is stellar and really helps the film, full of veterans like Ian McKellen, Bruce Davison, James Karen & Elias Koteas. Also along for the ride we have Joshua Jackson and Friends alumni David Schwimmer.Despite this cast and despite it being a King adaptation I don't see the grand appeal. It's not a terrible movie it's just poorly executed and difficult viewing in places. As a psychological thriller it delivers and is very thought provoking. As nearly 2hrs of entertainment it kind of fails (For me anyway)The Good:Outstanding castGreat conceptThe Bad:Deeply uncomfortable viewingUnnecessarily homoeroticSome of the movie defies logic somewhatMany cast members are badly wasted as barely on screenThings I Learnt From This Movie:David Schwimmer with a moustache looks like someone who shouldn't be trusted alone with children, or animals, or even remotely sexy looking fruit73yrs since they surrendered and 20yrs since this film and Nazi's are not only still a thing but going strong, this is a terrifying fact.

Unlike many people, I enjoy adaptations that stray from their source material as long as it lends a different perspective or tells the story in a way that both the adaptation and source can be enjoyed on their own merit, but this film completely misses the point of the Stephen King novella that it is based on.Aside from this point, the acting was unbelievable and actually quite laughable throughout and you could tell that this was not the fault of the actors, but the direction of the actors and possibly a rushed production. And it is a very rushed production because the story is over and told before we can even completely feel, see and understand what drives the characters to behave in the way they do.The novella is about human corruption and the evils of human nature and explores how the evil of the holocaust transcends just those events and could lead to something of greater if humans allow themselves to become corrupted. Although this film adaptation seems to acknowledge this theme, so many shocking things happen in the source that are completely lost in the film that the viewer is not allowed to see the weight of the corruption.Many things simply make little or no sense in the film because the story is so rushed. Dialogue is often quoted verbatim from the novella, but lose their power and are actually somewhat confusing because other parts of the novella that are crucial to the characters' development are not even mentioned. Things happen in the film that make you think, why did they do that? That's strange, no one would do that in real life without motivation, unless they were crazy, of course. But we haven't established that anyone is crazy. Stupid perhaps, but not crazy.On the subject of stupidity, it's important to note that throughout the film, I get more of an impression that the 'apt pupil' is actually pretty stupid and is not even convincingly academically intelligent.The ending of the novella was unsettling and provocative, but the ending of the film was just a reminder that you wasted an hour and a half of your life that you will not get back. And the way it ended, what was the point? I won't say what happened although I can't say that this film can even be spoiled because nothing really happened in it, but the whole film was pointless. It was like the series finale of Dexter all over again...It's such a shame because Ian McKellen really looked the part of Dussander and played him very well as much as Bryan Singer let him... I think I'll watch Shawshank to cleanse my film palate..

Apt Pupil is a thriller that is based on one of the fours novella written by Stephen King entitled Different Seasons.It stars Ian McKellen and Brad Renfro.This is the third film to derive from King's book of four novellas with the others being Stand By Me and The Shawshank Redemption. Bryan Singer directed this film.A high school student named Todd Bowden discovers fugitive Nazi war criminal that is living in his neighborhood.He happens to be Kurt Dussander,a former death-camp commandant who is hiding under the under the pseudonym Arthur Denker.Being obsessed with Nazism and acts of the Holocaust as he is a passionate about the subject of History,he develops a relationship with him.Together,Bowden was able to persuades Dussander to share his stories during the war.But ultimately,their relationship heads to a dangerous path as malevolence develops between them.The is definitely horrific in the sense that we get to see Bowden develop evil traits as his relationship with Denker progresses especially after he hears the stories of Jews being killed on the death camp.Also,we get to see them manipulate each other in committing evil deeds like criminal activities such as murder.Added to that,we see how both of them deteriorated morally that it becomes disturbing to the viewer.I give credit to the performances of McKellen and Renfro as they were effective in the portrayal of their characters considering that they dominated majority of the scenes.The only negative thing that I would say that about it is that it wasn't chilling enough.Also,it fails to provide much insight particularly on Bowden's deterioration as he develops evil qualities.Finally,the essence of the novella wasn't fully transformed into the big screen especially if one was able to read it.But nevertheless,it is still worth the view for it is far from being a disappointment.

The movie Apt Pupil begins with a slow, but definitely solid start. Our protagonist, Todd Bowen, is an honor student at his high school. His history teacher is teaching "holocaust week" and Todd becomes intrigued and heads off to the library after class for more information.On his bus ride home, he spots a man who looks familiar- a little too familiar. Todd recognizes him to be Kurt Dussander, a Nazi who is being hunted for various crimes he committed during the second world war. After collecting a lot of evidence proving that the man he spotted was indeed Kurt Dussander, Todd decides to confront him. He gives Dussander (who is living under the alias Arthur Denker) an ultimatum; tell me all about your involvement in the holocaust, or I turn you and all the evidence over to the police. Dussander agrees to share his stories with Todd, and thus was the beginning of a confederacy that was to lead both parties involved down a path of darkness. Ian McKellan gives an amazing performance as the sarcastic and witty Kurt Dussander. In my opinion, McKellan definitely carried the movie. He was totally convincing as the seventy-five year-old former Nazi, so much so that it was almost hard to imagine him as the same man who would later play as the vivacious villain Magneto of the X-men series, or the kindhearted and powerful wizard Gandalf of the Lord of the of the Rings. Brad Renfro gave a less thrilling performance as Todd Bowen, the highly intelligent protagonist with a shade for the sadistic. Renfro was too many sullen stares, bored smirks and petulant exclamations, and too little harsh resolve, but at moments he did shine. And perhaps his moody performance was somewhat appropriate to the character, a teenage boy entangled in something from which he could not escape.I cannot accurately draw a comparison between the book and the movie, having only seen the movie, but I can say that from what I've heard and read, the book and movie should be judged on their own merits. The movie isn't so much as an adaptation as much as almost a reinterpretation or retelling of the original story, and has a drastically different ending from the book. All in all I can say that I enjoyed the film- it didn't absolutely blow me away or have me eager to watch it a second time- but it was worth the paltry sum that I paid for it and maybe more.