Apt Pupil (1998)
Apt Pupil (1998)
There was one novella by Stephen King, that truly disturbed me, it isn't a horror story in the way that one might think, no supernatural monsters, or demons, in this story the true monster is a teenage boy. The story I am referring to is Apt Pupil from Stephen King's 1983 collection of novellas, Different Seasons. The story tells the events that happen when a teenage boy named Todd Bowden discovers that an old man in his neighborhood named Arthur Denker, is in fact a Nazi in hiding named Kurt Dussander. Todd confronts him, and threatens to expose him, unless he tells him stories about the concentration camps that he operated in World War 2. Denker/Dussander, just wants to forget his past, and live out the rest of his years in peace, and is unwilling to tell Todd what he wants to here, but when Todd threatens to expose him, and holds the fact that he has evidence, even his fingerprints that prove who he his, Denker/Dussander is forced to obey Todd. Todd's obsession intensifies, and he even purchases a replica of a Nazi uniform that he forces Denker/Dussander to dress up in and march around the house. All of these things awaken the monster within Denker/Dussander, as the evil within him starts to come out, but that evil pales in comparison to the evil that lies within Todd. The story is much darker, and goes into more detail of Todd's violence, cruelty, and manipulation, in the story it builds up to a shocking conclusion. The film waters that down greatly, and totally removes the shocking conclusion from Stephen King's story. I think that the changes that the filmmakers made to the story, made the story lose its power and terrifying potency. Apt Pupil is the story about a monster named Todd Bowden, a boy who holds an elderly ex-Nazi a prisoner forcing him to relive the evils of his past, and pushes him to a point that he is once again that monster of his past, but the real monster, the real soulless creature of evil is a teenage boy. The film just doesn't have the power that the amazing novella had, and it is unfortunate, because the director was the same person who did The Usual Suspects, and had proved that he could have made a better film than he ended up making with Apt Pupil.
Apt Pupil is directed by Bryan Singer, with a screenplay by Brandon Boyce. The film is based on Stephen King's 1982 novella of the same name, which was a part of the collection Different Seasons, Different Seasons also featured Rita Hayworth And The Shawshank Redemption (the film The Shawshank Redemption), and The Body (the film Stand By Me). Apt Pupil was produced by TriStar Pictures, Phoenix Pictures, and Bad Hat Harry Productions, and was distributed by Sony Pictures in 1998. The film was a box office bomb, grossing a mere $8.9 million in the box office, with a budget of $14 million. Apt Pupil received mixed reviews from the critics, and currently holds a mediocre score on online film review sites. The film failed to capture the interests of audiences, and could never live up to the intense and powerful Stephen King novella that it was based on.
Apt Pupil stars Ian McKellen as Arthur Denker/Kurt Dussander, Brad Renfro plays Todd Bowden, Bruce Davidson play his father Richard Bowden, Ann Dowd plays his mother Monica Bowden, James Karen plays his grandfather Victor Bowden, David Schwimmer plays Todd's guidance counselor Edward French, and Elias Koteas plays Archie who is homeless man that Dussander and Bowden murder. As far as the cast, I really can't fault this film, it has an incredible cast of characters, Brad Renfro is amazing as the soulless and evil Todd Bowden. Brad Renfro's life story though was quite tragic, and he ended up dying of a heroin overdose at the young age of 25. Ian McKellen was also fantastic in the role of Denker/Dussander, an aging ex-Nazi with the atrocities he committed at the concentration camps wearing on him, and McKellen conveys that so perfectly. McKellen is a master actor, and he is amazing in almost every role I have ever seen him in. David Schwimmer, at this point in his career was mostly only known for his role on the television comedy Friends, and sadly it is hard trying to see him not as his character from friends, and I struggled to take him seriously. Then there is Elias Koteas, who you might recognize as Casey Jones from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films from the 1990s. Koteas honestly does an amazing job at playing the homeless man, to the point where it almost seems like they actually went out to the streets and found a real homeless man for the part. Again, it isn't the fault of the actors that this film bombed, they were all great.
Why did the film fail? If Apt Pupil was made the way that Stephen King had written it, it would have been a much darker story, and much much more violent, and it would have taken place over a longer span of time, building and creating a deeper and more intense story. It would also have been a very controversial film, which would have probably made it a better film, especially with the success of violent films dealing with the subjects of Nazis like American History X, or with the success of Schindler's List, there was a place for films that dealt with this subject matter, and with Apt Pupil taking a unique look at the subject, if it was done right, it could have been a successful film. However the story was watered down, and much of the real evil of the story was stripped away. Instead of Todd and Denker/Dussander taking years building their relationship, and the details and twisted manipulation on the part of Todd (in the book the story goes from Todd being in middle school to him graduating high school, and they kill much more than one homeless man in the book), in the film the story only lasts the span of Todd's senior year of highschool, not allowing them the time to create the relationship that the characters had in the book, making it feel less realistic and less powerful. Overall the film suffered from terrible writing, the actors were great, and even the Bryan Singer's directing can't really be faulted, it is a good looking film, and the cast all gave great performances. But as they say, "you just can't polish a turd". If a film suffers from a poorly written screenplay that declaws and defangs the source material, then what are you left with, other than a weak film that fails to capture the audience, and fails to have the power and intensity to make a story like this believable and effective.
If you haven't seen Apt Pupil, I don't know that I really want to recommend it to you. It is worth watching for the performances by the actors, and just the overall look of the film, but if you want to experience Apt Pupil, it is better to just opt for reading the book. I wanted to like this film, because of how much the book disturbed me, but I just couldn't it just had no bite to it, it was just so weak and watered down. Reading Apt Pupil is like taking a drink of pure grain alcohol, where as watching this film is like drinking watered down wine-cooler. If you come across a copy, I only suggest picking it up, if you are a Stephen King film collector, outside of King film collectors, this film would probably be best to pass up.
Apt Pupil is directed by Bryan Singer, with a screenplay by Brandon Boyce. The film is based on Stephen King's 1982 novella of the same name, which was a part of the collection Different Seasons, Different Seasons also featured Rita Hayworth And The Shawshank Redemption (the film The Shawshank Redemption), and The Body (the film Stand By Me). Apt Pupil was produced by TriStar Pictures, Phoenix Pictures, and Bad Hat Harry Productions, and was distributed by Sony Pictures in 1998. The film was a box office bomb, grossing a mere $8.9 million in the box office, with a budget of $14 million. Apt Pupil received mixed reviews from the critics, and currently holds a mediocre score on online film review sites. The film failed to capture the interests of audiences, and could never live up to the intense and powerful Stephen King novella that it was based on.
Apt Pupil stars Ian McKellen as Arthur Denker/Kurt Dussander, Brad Renfro plays Todd Bowden, Bruce Davidson play his father Richard Bowden, Ann Dowd plays his mother Monica Bowden, James Karen plays his grandfather Victor Bowden, David Schwimmer plays Todd's guidance counselor Edward French, and Elias Koteas plays Archie who is homeless man that Dussander and Bowden murder. As far as the cast, I really can't fault this film, it has an incredible cast of characters, Brad Renfro is amazing as the soulless and evil Todd Bowden. Brad Renfro's life story though was quite tragic, and he ended up dying of a heroin overdose at the young age of 25. Ian McKellen was also fantastic in the role of Denker/Dussander, an aging ex-Nazi with the atrocities he committed at the concentration camps wearing on him, and McKellen conveys that so perfectly. McKellen is a master actor, and he is amazing in almost every role I have ever seen him in. David Schwimmer, at this point in his career was mostly only known for his role on the television comedy Friends, and sadly it is hard trying to see him not as his character from friends, and I struggled to take him seriously. Then there is Elias Koteas, who you might recognize as Casey Jones from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films from the 1990s. Koteas honestly does an amazing job at playing the homeless man, to the point where it almost seems like they actually went out to the streets and found a real homeless man for the part. Again, it isn't the fault of the actors that this film bombed, they were all great.
Why did the film fail? If Apt Pupil was made the way that Stephen King had written it, it would have been a much darker story, and much much more violent, and it would have taken place over a longer span of time, building and creating a deeper and more intense story. It would also have been a very controversial film, which would have probably made it a better film, especially with the success of violent films dealing with the subjects of Nazis like American History X, or with the success of Schindler's List, there was a place for films that dealt with this subject matter, and with Apt Pupil taking a unique look at the subject, if it was done right, it could have been a successful film. However the story was watered down, and much of the real evil of the story was stripped away. Instead of Todd and Denker/Dussander taking years building their relationship, and the details and twisted manipulation on the part of Todd (in the book the story goes from Todd being in middle school to him graduating high school, and they kill much more than one homeless man in the book), in the film the story only lasts the span of Todd's senior year of highschool, not allowing them the time to create the relationship that the characters had in the book, making it feel less realistic and less powerful. Overall the film suffered from terrible writing, the actors were great, and even the Bryan Singer's directing can't really be faulted, it is a good looking film, and the cast all gave great performances. But as they say, "you just can't polish a turd". If a film suffers from a poorly written screenplay that declaws and defangs the source material, then what are you left with, other than a weak film that fails to capture the audience, and fails to have the power and intensity to make a story like this believable and effective.
If you haven't seen Apt Pupil, I don't know that I really want to recommend it to you. It is worth watching for the performances by the actors, and just the overall look of the film, but if you want to experience Apt Pupil, it is better to just opt for reading the book. I wanted to like this film, because of how much the book disturbed me, but I just couldn't it just had no bite to it, it was just so weak and watered down. Reading Apt Pupil is like taking a drink of pure grain alcohol, where as watching this film is like drinking watered down wine-cooler. If you come across a copy, I only suggest picking it up, if you are a Stephen King film collector, outside of King film collectors, this film would probably be best to pass up.
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