10 Misleading Movie Trailers That Scared You Off Amazing Movies
8. The Rules Of Attraction
What The Trailer Sold You:
A stylish college sex comedy full of typical college sex comedy shenanigans, with dim-witted talk about virgins, bisexuality, and sleeping around. Plus, it stars milquetoast heartthrobs James Van Der Beek and Jessica Biel (and featuring one of the guys from the American Pie franchise, just to hammer that comparison home). If you're looking for a dumb comedy to kill time, this is the movie for you!
What You Missed:
If the words "based on a novel by Bret Easton Ellis" don't get your heart pumping, you must not be familiar with American Psycho. That, too, was an Easton Ellis adaptation. And while The Rules of Attraction may not reach "chasing women around with a chainsaw while nude" levels of intensity, it's as pitch black as comedies come.
There's nothing romantic -- or even normal -- about the film's depictions of college life. The characters are despicable, the situations disturbing, and there's nary a hint of the kind of wink-wink humor that would with the usual teen comedy crowd. That said, it's also endlessly fascinating.
Van Der Beek seethes douche vile perfectly befitting of a character named Bateman. Every other scene hits a raw nerve, and should be applauded for the innovative way it delves into the ugliness of its subjects.