Film Review — Less Than Zero (1987)
Release Date: November 6th, 1987
Starring: Andrew McCarthy, Jamie Gertz, Robert Downey Jr., and James Spader
Director: Marek Kanievska (Another Country)
Genre: Drama, Coming-of-Age
Runtime: 1 hr 38 min
NOTE: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.
Less Than Zero is about three people who graduate from high school, go into their college years, fall into wealthy lives and become addicted to drugs. A tale of friendship, money, sex, fear and loss, all coated in cocaine, Bret Easton Ellis’ novel turned film is an impactful picture, a sorrowful, dark experience that acts as sort of the lite, early version of Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream (2000).
Less Than Zero’s main character is Clay (Andrew McCarthy). Clay is wealthy, lucky and clean cut. A stud, Clay frequently is in the bedroom with the cocaine-addicted Blair (Jamie Gertz). Here, Gertz is the farthest cry from the prude-like, scared, straight laced fiancé in the movie Twister (1996) as one could imagine. All the while, the couple’s old friend Julian (Robert Downey Jr.) is severely addicted to smoking heroin. Yet, Julian becomes in debt to his dealer, Rip (a young, sleek James Spader). Balancing a life that is spiraling out of control between being homeless and becoming sober, the rest of the film’s arc is Julian’s path, showcasing his eventual fate.
Robert Downey Jr. has stated that Julian in Less Than Zero is an exaggeration of who the real life actor used to actually be in the 1980s and that Downey Jr. himself became an exaggeration of Julian. Thank God for Downey Jr.’s real life tennacity, hard work, endurance and his comeback as Iron Man, the leader of The Avengers, because Julian is no superhero nor any type of figure than anyone wants to be. The performer’s portrayal is raw, real and mounded.
Less Than Zero has a very dismal yet poignant atmosphere about it. There are a lot of modern homes with big windows. The nighttime parties are hip with loud music while scary and knowingly, subconsciously inferior. The entire project is a message: do not get lost in the privilege of drugs when you have it, or even equally, don’t do any of it when you want to even more because you can’t. Furthermore, many feel there is no point of stopping, even when you have nothing; nihilism.
Thus, Julian (while a heterosexual) turns to gay prostitution to help pay Rip back. Downey Jr.’s character lets his affirmation for who he is go and simply doesn’t care about his true, younger self anymore.
The cast here all do an incredibly believable job as these dark animals. As mentioned, Jamie Gertz is quite a presence on the screen, full of sorrow and fear, insecurity and hunger. Interestingly, McCarthy (who gives the most standout performance of all of his works), the main character, is the one guy not really involved with drugs — simply roaming through the environments which they are held. To that point, there are times in this film where him and the other characters simply find themselves slowly walking around their rich settings, with the film’s gloomy, coming-of-age soundtrack in the background. This largely takes from the character engagement on screen and dampens the film with people basically doing nothing. The quietness is poured on and the film is flooded with it. I suppose that’s the point. Yet, such shots definitely turn the production hollow.
The film works best when there is literal dialogue between McCarthy, Gertz and Downey Jr.. While the audience is only given one scene of innocent high-school times in the beginning, thinking back to those years always hurts us throughout the film, relating to the characters in their current time, which is precisely why the picture works.
The direction and editing is subpar. I wish the takes moved faster. There are a few shockingly effective graphic visual frames as well, such as a sexually vulgar threat written on the wall, with Gertz crying as McCarthy walks into a house, as she cries, sitting on the floor, “I just got here.”
And finally, where Less Than Zero digs really deep and leaves a painful mark is when McCarthy and Gertz, while trying to protect their old friend, realize that Downey Jr. is dead in the car. Their reactions — Gertz especially — are exceptional. A heart-rending, dreadful close, full of subtle horror and simultaneous reminisce of the characters, as the car drives along the road, and the audience is eventually shown a photo of the three adults as they once were — innocent. Frightening, mournful and subtly nostalgic stuff. The credits roll. Once finished, for a little 95-minute package, this thing takes the breath out of you.
Less Than Zero is a piece that everyone should see not only as an anti-drug movie but also as an illustration of where the culture was in the 1980s and more specifically, where certain classes still are today, even if one is literally dying to stay in that class and clings onto their every last breath to be a part of it. As a tool of growth, I recommend this film to anyone over the age of 13. In fact, it should be a necessity.
Overall Score:
4-Star Scale: 3.0 stars
Grade on Report Card: B-
Out of 10: 7.2
Out of 100: 72
