Overrated and overhyped

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Anyone who has read the original story will agree that this movie doesn't deserve to be noticed. Original story brings study of scares and affiliation for gruesome stories bringing to depravity of one great kid. In Stephen King's "Apt pupil" novel, Todd Bowden is so drawn by the stories of ones might to govern peoples lives and death that he tries to feel the rush of ending someones life. Also, Nazi character revives hiss "glorious days" by killing countless hobos. In the movie, however, kid is just reacting out of fright of being persecuted for covering war criminal..... TOTALY MISSSED POINT!

Apt Pupil is an adaptation of a Stephen King short story. The film is set in the mid 1980s when a smart and cocky teenager, Todd Bowden interested in World War 2 suspects a neighbour of being a fugitive Nazi.Both enter a game of oneupmanship as at first, the fugitive Nazi, Dussander (Ian McKellen) is on the back foot but the elderly man is wily and cunning and wrests control.Bowden instead of turning the fugitive into the authorities wants to hear stories of the war and concentration camps, even gets Dussander to don a Nazi uniform and the relationship brings out demons on both the characters where a strange friendship and alliance ensues. Dussander even at one point pretends to be Bawden's grandfather in order to improve his school grades.However events with a homeless man and a spell in hospital when Dussander becomes ill threatens to bring both their worlds crashing down.The film is intriguing and interesting with a sly performance by McKellen who makes his character sympathetic at first, ashamed of his past. There is an interesting cameo by Michael Byrne as a concentration camp survivor (an actor best known for playing a Nazi in an Indiana Jones film.)The film then starts to lose its way a little, becoming a little predictable, losing some tension along the way. I understand the film departs from King's novella in its conclusion and although not wholly successful the film is still worth investing your time.

They take so many of Steven Kings many best sellers and turn them into movies. For the most part they miss the mark by a longshot with only around three exceptions maybe 5 depending on who you ask these include The Shining, Stand by Me, and the Shawshank Redemtion. Most of his books tuned into movies are terrible and this is one of those.The acting is alright but its nothing like the book at all. The book was very disturbing while this is not in the least disturbing. The story line is not even kept the same. It was the biggest disappointment since "IT" you should only really watch this if you have not read the book but then again Id just say read the book.This movie is about a young boy who finds out one of the elderly men in his neighbourhood is actually a Nazi war criminal. He ends up blackmailing him into telling him the horrors of the Nazi death camps because the kid has a sick obsession with it. He thinks he has all the control over the old man but the old has his tricks.Like I said this movie is no where near as good as the book. If you want a really intense disturbing book read it stay away from the movie unless there is no chance you will ever read the book.

Sadly whatever made the novel good is lacking in this adaptation.Apt Pupil is a movie that feels like a new director took over every five minutes with a different idea of where the movie should go. It creates a vortex that sucks up any chance at emotional connection to the characters or overall film.What little plot there is gets rushed. There are several times when the film is too lazy or simply incapable of properly showing passages of time so it simply cuts to black 'X weeks/months later..' screens.Poor editing destroys any chance to introspect on the conversations between Kurt and Todd. One moment Kurt will be describing Holocaust victims defecating on themselves in the gas chamber and then abruptly a basketball is on screen and Todd is at school in gym class. Then a moment later his friend is talking about dates and parties in the locker-room.The on screen chemistry between Kurt and Todd is that of a wet paper-towel. The characterizations feel wrong and not in an interesting way. Think of an adult being scared of a baby. That's basically what you get. Kurt, a former SS officer who worked in both Bergen-Belsen and the notorious Auschwitz camp shrinks constantly away at Todd who is nothing but an angsty spoiled emo teenager. The movie would've been far better served with a more aggressive stance from Kurt, especially when the movie is attempting to show how evil and 'badass' the Nazis were.Even without any sort of chemistry and with Kurt being blackmailed and forced to dress up for Todd, he abruptly takes a shine to him ala Miyagi style and impersonates being his Grandfather to the guidance counsellor and the movie shifts into Todd's school life and trying to get his grades up.Then it shifts back to them hating each other. Then abruptly Kurt, who is a wanted fugitive who has intelligently and carefully concealed his identity for decades and lived a law-abiding life in the US decides to stab someone.None of it makes much sense and we care even less to figure out why because he doesn't like Todd and Todd seems to be a blossoming sociopath who doesn't like anyone except himself.Ultimately I feel like what I watched was a boy's masturbatory fantasy about having his own private SS officer to dress up, interrogate and harass mixed in with odd and boring clips of teenage high school angst.Not good for a movie that bills itself to be basically a Nazi thriller.