Hollywood films are often condemned for stressing style over substance, but that's not a charge that can be levelled at "Apt Pupil," an odd attempt at combining a thriller about Nazism with a disturbing study of a teen gone wrong. Director Bryan Singer's first film since his acclaimed debut "The Usual Suspects," "Pupil" demonstrates Singer's eye for framing shots and his skill in bringing out the best in his stars. Even so, there's something amiss here. Exactly what's wrong is difficult to pinpoint. "Pupil" is crowned by a relentlessly creepy, well-nuanced performance by Ian McKellen as Kurt Dussander, a war criminal who eluded capture 40 years ago and is now alive and well and living in suburbia under the name Arthur Denker. Rather than milk Dussander for easy chills, McKellen fills out the man's psychological profile to demonstrate how his long-dormant violent impulses slowly bubble up to the surface after being reawakened by overly curious high school senior Todd (Brad Renfro). For obvious reasons, Dussander is not itching to relive his glory days and McKellen pulls off the difficult feat of actually making viewers feel sorry for this man who sent hundreds to their deaths. Renfro also hits all the right notes as honor-student Todd slowly and quietly slips into the grip of a dangerous obsession. In some ways, he's even scarier than Dussander because his immaturity makes him less predictable and prone to abrupt mood swings. The film's first hour sets up a potentially riveting look at the contrasts and commonalities of these two men, both of whom have a penchant for fairly twisted mind games. But since "Pupil" is based on a novella by Stephen King, you know there's eventually going to be a whopper of a murder eventually; in this case, the victim is an unlucky transient (played by the excellent Canadian actor Elias Koteas from "Exotica") who calls on Dussander at the wrong time. The rest of the movie is standard body-in-the-basement melodrama, as a meddling guidance counselor (David Schwimmer), Todd's blissfully ignorant parents and various investigators drift in and out of the plot. "Pupil" is exceedingly well-made, beautifully photographed and sharply edited, but it's not difficult to see why it's been sitting on the Sony shelves for so many months (the film bears a 1997 trademark at the end). All the artistry of Singer, Renfro, McKellen and company can't obscure the fact that the movie never seems sure of what it's about or what it wants to say. Is this a cautionary tale about letting sleeping dogs lie? Is it a thriller with a strong homoerotic bent? Is it a story that aims to contrast the horrors of the Holocaust with the trendy anti-everything attitude found in so many of today's kids? "Apt Pupil" wants to be all of these things but has no idea how to pull its various parts together. Instead of leaving viewers shaken the movie is more likely to leave them shaking their heads, wondering exactly what they've been watching for the last two hours. James Sanford
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