Less Than Zero
(1987)
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Based on the novel by Bret Easton Ellis which follows three friends who are finding their way in the fast lane on the fastest track of all - overprivileged Beverly Hills. Their friendship is put under a strain however, when one develops a helpless addiction to cocaine. |
Long before American Psycho made the transition to the big screen this equally nihilistic Bret Easton Ellis novel appeared, mapping out the fag end of 1980s yuppie-dom with its tale of Beverly Hills rich kids spaced out on drugs and drifting from sports cars to nightclubs. Unusually strong material for a studio movie, although the more controversial aspects of Ellis's book were toned down to benefit a rather conventional love story, Another Country director Marek Kanievska handles his cast well, drawing exceptional performances from James Spader as a smarmy pusher and Robert Downey Jr in an art-imitating-life role as a desperate addict. Still, compared to the absorbing Christiane F, this anti-drugs message film too often resembles an R-rated episode of Beverly Hills 90210.