# Apt Pupil (1998)

### reviewed by
Frankie Paiva

    Apt Pupil (R) **
    Starring Brad Renfro, Ian McKellen
    Directed by Bryan Singer
    A Review by Frankie Paiva

Very dark, very disturbing, very good performances. These are all words used to describe Apt Pupil, a new film based on a novel by Stephen King.

It begins as a quiet obsession, Todd Bowden (Renfro, who is extremely good) wants to know more and more about the Holocaust, so much more in fact, that he dusts the fingerprints off the mailbox of a man he thinks is a former Nazi general. When he confronts the man, Kurt Dussander (McKellen, who is equally, if not more excellent) he makes him tell him everything about what he did or he will turn him in to the police. (The story's in gory, graphic detail too, and with questions like, "How did it feel?")

When Todd buys him an old commander's uniform for Christmas and makes him wear it and march around in it, he begins to discover the pure evil that had creeped into the men's brains. As Todd's grades begin to slip, he finds the tables turning, but the two remain friends until something happens. (I could tell you but I want you to be as shocked as I was.) That makes then have a confrontation with the law.

The film is very, very good but the senseless (OK, maybe it's not senseless but the film is already depressing and it doesn't need any more violence than it already has) violence started making me like the film less and less. Yes, I do realize that this film is about the horrors of the Holocaust, but (being a twelve year-old) I just wasn't ready for some of the images that appeared on the screen. The also extremely disturbing (but well deserved) ending still makes me shiver.

Once again, this isn't to say it's not good (I swear I shook at least three times, not to mention the haunting musical score that kept creeping into my head afterwards) but it's also a violent film that could never (in no way possible) have been made after Columbine. For that, and because I'm shaking as I write this review now, I give Apt Pupil ** stars.

The Young-Uns: The film contains lots of violence (some against animals and most of the killings are accompanied by opera music) and some swearing. There are a lot of naked teenage boys in a locker room scene, and at least three extremely frightening scenes (and or nightmares) occur. For that, I do not recommend this film for anyone under 15.

A Review by Frankie Paiva The 12 Year-Old Movie Reviewer E-Mail me at SwpStke@aol.com Visit my website at: http://expage.com/page/teenagemoviecritic

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