I’ve been delving into Bret Easton Ellis’ back catalog lately, starting at ground zero so to speak with “Less Than Zero.” This book has one of my all-time favorite opening passages:
People are afraid to merge on freeways in Los Angeles. This is the first thing I hear when I come back to the city. Blair picks me up from LAX and mutters this under her breath as she drives up the onramp. She says, “People are afraid to merge on freeways in Los Angeles.”
Gives me chills to read it. What a great first sentence, eh? Also, I relate, having dealt firsthand with these non-mergers on my daily commute for years.
Anyway, halfway through reading the book and getting lost in the empty nothingness that is the point, I got the brilliant idea to Netflix the movie (starring Andrew McCarthy, Robert Downey Jr. and James Spader), which I vaguely remembering watching some time ago.
The film and novel share three things:
1. The title
2. The characters’ names
3. The protagonist’s return to L.A. for Christmas break
Other than that, there’s no comparison. If it weren’t for Robert Downey Jr.’s irresistible and undeniable charm (♥), I might not have finished watching. It was that unrecognizable. Ellis himself supposedly hated the movie when it was released, saying it was completely unidentifiable from his novel, and he has only recently began to warm up to it.
It got me thinking that I’d like to compile a list of films that are Better Off Read. (Slightly nicer than Better Off Dead.) Can you help me out, friends? Which books-turned-movies have been the most disappointing for you?
