Apt Pupil
Dir: Bryan Singer
1998
**
The idea is sound but the way they meet is a little far fetched, if not just badly adapted. I'm sure the story is better than the film, there is only so much much of a book you can make into a film but especially when the performances are so uneven. Ian McKellen's performance more than outweighs Brad Renfro's and that is the main problem. Far to much is left to the imagination or to what ever your own knowledge of the second world war and the concentration camps is. If this is a bad man and you're using flashbacks, then show this bad man being bad in a flashback! It's not rocket science but i'm afraid Bryan Singer brings nothing to life in his direction. Ian McKellen carries the whole film on his shoulders and everyone else takes the credit. I didn't think much of the conclusion either, again I'm sure it reads better but coincidence becomes contrived if used incorrectly.