Review – Apt Pupil

I guess it’s nice to see Hollywood take a risk once in awhile on a film that isn’t your usual feel-good happy-ending fare. And even after Stand By Me and The Shawshank Redemption, the last Stephen King tale I thought I’d ever see them make into a movie was this dark quarter of Different Seasons. I haven’t read the novella since high school, but I’m told by those who remember it better than I do that the movie isn’t all that faithful to the original plot. The homosexual overtones of the relationship between the old concentration camp guard and the boy who discovers his secret past were so pronounced that I’m a little surprised the gay community didn’t take an interest in protesting the film. The animal violence was also excessive, though at least here it was an integral part of the plot (still, really isn’t there a better way to establish the badness of a character without resorting to cheap stunts like torture of animals or children?). Mildly amusing