Less Than Zero (1987)

One of the worst lead casts I've ever seen in the history of movies

I don't give a crap about any single character. It's so freeing. Apparently, there's a message here in the film version of a book I didn't bother reading (and a movie I didn't bother seeing, that is, until I had a viral thingy a few days ago).The movie came out 30 years ago when I was 29 and too old to connect with brat-pack angst. The story is about some spoiled little rich kidlets snorting and emoting and looking painfully happy when the darlins are a'sufferin' inside. If the movie had any coherency or powerful performances, I may have almost cared about what happened. Since it didn't, I didn't either. About the only that even moved the giveacrapometer's needle was James Spader's drug dealer character. But that needle just twitched.Oh, well. Unlike the hopelessly emotey doper, Julian, my sickness went away.

yet another mid80s film starring young actors for which i fail to understand the criticisms.as a standalone piece, it's excellent. casting is spot-on; even jami gertz who gives the weakest performance seems at home in her role, straddling strong loyalties for her two leading men. given that LESS THAN ZERO turned out to be almost entirely prophetic re: a certain young actor whose name rhymes with "hobart towney" it's hard to justify the resistance to the anti drug stance. i thought mccarthy did a good job of seeming exceptionally ambivalent to the libertinism surrounding him while remaining somewhat apart from it all.some really nice shots of just about everything. if watching downey chew furniture for an hour and a half isn't your cup of tea, it's worth checking out as a document of LA mid-80s.not bad on a purely hyperbolic/camp level either, as drug films tend to be. i was slightly amused by all the gay for pay action, drug pushers in vintage hot tubs with floating brick mobile phones, graffiti in couplets ("julian gives good head and is dead").always felt that there was a bit of a homoerotic subtext between julian and clay as their scenes together are so nice and understated. as if to underscore this point, the ladies don't do much undressing in this one and instead let the gents be nude and sexy.i thought it ended too fast but apparently overdosing is A Thing and so are bad cuts, so perhaps was not an entirely fatal artistic decision. the graveyard scene tacked on at the end seems entirely unnecessary tho. have learnt thru research that they had to reshoot like half of it in order to please the more conservative studio + mass audiences which may explain the thematic unevenness.

Less Than Zero almost seems like a film that came too late, if only for a couple of years earlier, during the Brat Pack era. While it isn't John Hughes, it's an interesting drama thanks to it's performances, especially Downey's, this role hitting a bit too close to home, and James Spader, as an oily drug supplier, while McCarthy basically just has to look sharp, smile and not say much, while I almost don't know what Gertz has to do, but just look independent. When graduating at the start, McCarthy had gone away for a while, and now he's back, only to find friend, Julian (Downey) at his worst with his drug habit, spiralling into a darker hell as referred to the movie's title, while Gertz is overly concerned. All three are from privileged families, Downey's father disowning him cause of his addiction. Downey shows some powerfully acted moments, too convincing you might say, like when he's really strung out, his supplier Spader, a really bad influence, ha ha, (different Spader movie reference) acting as a kind of pimp, when funds are short or due, making him do some weird stuff. Less Than Zero is a flashy energetic drama, all the more conflict driven, in Downey's character refusing to be helped. Based on Brett E Ellis, novel, Gertz uses the same line regarding snorting coke, as Jessica Biel does in 2003's Rules Of Attraction, based on another novel by Ellis. The film does have some messy areas, and it's ending, tragic for one, is thought provoking, but if you want John Hughes, go somewhere else.