Apt Proponent

I wasn't setting out to watch two Brad Renfro movies in close proximity -- it just worked out that not long after watching Sleepers, the movie Apt Pupil wound up on the top of my queue. It stars the young actor as a bright high school student who discovers that an old German man living nearby (played by Ian McKellen) is actually a Nazi war criminal who has changed his identity. The young man uses threats and extortion to force the man to tell horrible stories of his actions during the war, but unearthing these truths begins to have a dark and powerful effect on both of them.

Oh... and it's all based on a novella written by Stephen King. The movie has King's sensibilities all over it; I mean that in both the good and bad ways. In the plus column, there are lots of great little moments and scenes that leave a lasting impact on the viewer. Sometimes they're gripping visuals (well realized by director Bryan Singer), other times the idea at the core of a scene sure to make you squirm in your seat.

But it also means a meandering story that doesn't seem to always know where it's going. Stephen King doesn't believe in outlining, and consequently most of his stories have both a sort of meandering quality, and an unsatisfying ending. (There are exceptions to the rule, mostly the stories adapted for film by Frank Darabont -- see The Mist and The Shawshank Redemption. No, really -- SEE THEM.)

Apt Pupil is cut from the "mixed bag" cloth. Watching the movie, I got the feeling that it was only as a "cool moment" was finished that the idea came for what the next cool moment should be, and only then that the film would take off in that direction. And by the end of it, you kind of want a trail of bread crumbs to somehow trace the way back to where it all began; it doesn't entirely make sense that this movie's ending somehow flows from its beginning.

But at least there are cool moments along the way. And the acting is really terrific. This is ultimately little more than a "two-hand play," and both Renfro and McKellen are great. They commit fully to the concept of two manipulators trying to outmaneuver each other, and both step deeper and deeper into the darkness with fine precision, making each step of the journey compelling.

I think there could have been a better movie in here somewhere. But the one that is there is still worth seeing overall. I rate it a B-.