The Rules of Attraction

Based on another of Bret Easton Ellis’ misspent-youth novels, The Rules of Attraction follows a shallow drug-dealing student (James Van Der Beek), a cocaine-snorting nympho (Jessica Biel), and a host of befuddled coed cohorts into a twisted love triangle. But a racy satire of the dramatic minisocieties in a college wasteland gets lost in writer-director Roger Avary’s drug-induced haze, graphic exploits, and useless rapid-rewind flashbacks. The high point: watching a predatory himbo (Ian Somerhalder) reconnect with his inner Wham!, prancing in his undies to George Michael’s ”Faith.” And that’s not saying much.