Apt Pupil

Todd Bowden (Brad Renfro), a straight-A student and poster child for wholesome All-American youth, becomes obsessed with a Nazi war criminal named Arthur Denker (Ian McKellen) he discovers living in his town, threatening to expose the man's past unless Denker tells gruesomely detailed stories of the concentration camps. Creepy, disquieting stuff, to be sure, but there's one crucial detail missing from this adaptation of Stephen King's horror novella: why? Why does Todd become fascinated with genocide and the wielding of absolute power? Why do Denker's tales alternately turn him into a nightmare-plagued wreck and a glassy-eyed psycho? Singer's taut direction does help overcome most flaws in the last thirty minutes, as Apt Pupil becomes that rare example of a thriller that gets better as it approaches its conclusion. Still, you can't help but wonder how much more effective it might have been if the characters made more sense--particularly Todd, in his shift from golden boy to sociopath. More attention to character development might have made the film more deeply disturbing than morbidly intriguing. Optional. (S. Renshaw)