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Less Than Zero

Less Than Zero

1987
Drama
1h 38m
A college freshman returns to L.A. for the holidays at his ex-girlfriend's request, but discovers that his former best friend has an out-of-control drug habit. (imdb)
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Less Than Zero

1987
Drama
1h 38m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 41.84% from 427 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(427)
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Rated 21 Mar 2009
70
41st
Bore very little resemblance to the book--which is by and large a good thing. Downey very good. First half better than the second, when it becomes the Chasing the Junkie game and turns into an allaround hugfest. Interesting and hauntingly eerie original music; some weird covers of songs. Excellent early montage, with McCarthy still in his dorm room.
Rated 10 Dec 2006
2
21st
Robert Downey Jr. plays himself. Zing!
Rated 18 Jan 2011
27
12th
Adapts source material about the hedonistic excesses of nihilistic youth with all the sophistication and subtlety of a "Just Say No" ad. ("Julian is for sale," indeed.)
Rated 25 May 2011
49
6th
Misjudges the book's portrayal of adulthood ennui and vacuous directionlessness and places crappy soap-opera drama and (gasp!) a storyline in the mix to supposedly jazz this feature up. But this ends up diluting the apathetic atmosphere that this should have had if it were to be a successful adaptation. On the plus side, the music and Downey Jnr. are good.
Rated 15 Oct 2012
69
26th
Very much an 80s film and parts do seem dated - but it's worth watching for RDJ's performance. The other two leads played by Andrew McCarthy and Jami Gertz, however, were just plain bad. I couldn't tell at first if McCarthy's character was staring off like that on purpose playing the confused good guy role, but it continued on throughout the film and became really distracting. A decent enough story and certainly some noir elements to this, but so many things wrong with it brings this one down.
Rated 02 Oct 2013
53
44th
A very different than the book it was based on. But I didn't like the novel, and this film is much cheesier but also more entertaining. Robert Downey Jr. totally kills as a cocaine addict, I just loved his performance.
Rated 20 Dec 2013
50
25th
As an adaptation, it's probably one of the worst I've seen, simply because it's kind of nothing like the book, except for the setting, the characters' names and a few little details. Purely as a film, it's okay. Fairly boring and pointless, but not offensively bad. The male and female leads weren't very good, but Robert Downey Jr. was decent. I imagine it would be a difficult book to adapt, but they really didn't even try here.
Rated 11 Jan 2014
26
17th
Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person in the world who thinks RDJ is overplayed, so his stock persona in this didn't save this from being a weepy mess.
Rated 02 Feb 2014
40
16th
Incredibly cliche and a fairly awful adaptation from the novel. There is nothing original about this film compared to its era. I did not find the novel to be particularly great but it has 100% more depth to it than this film does. Don't bother.
Rated 10 Jan 2015
51
42nd
I think it helped that I avoided this for a number of years after reading the book. The adaptation is limited and leaves things to be desired, but the visual conception was reasonable.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
60
10th
Novel is better.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
24
5th
Boring.
Rated 27 Feb 2008
50
34th
Downey Jr. is into hard drugs, man!
Rated 26 Oct 2008
90
90th
Robert Downey Jr.'s scenes in this movie gives it this score.
Rated 23 Jul 2009
30
6th
They sure made a complete mess of a great book.
Rated 18 Jul 2010
14
2nd
Dreary, flat story. This sanitized version of Ellis's novel is a cautionary antidrug tale, complete with wooden performances and obvious dialogue. The visual style is occasionally compelling, but this exercise in irritation definitely merits a grade way "less than zero".
Rated 16 Nov 2011
38
12th
Having just read the book, it was hilariously wrong in every single way but an interesting piece of 80s kitsch.
Rated 30 Jan 2012
60
28th
59.625
Rated 25 Jun 2012
15
1st
Has no thematic connection to the book, unless 'betrayal and inversion' is a connection. Though in the book the protagonist says he wants "to see the worst". That could be a thematic connection. Just in a different sense of what it means to see, or show people, "the worst". Harley Peyton went on to write episodes of TWIN PEAKS, amongst other things. The career of the director doesn't seem to have survived as well.
Rated 14 Sep 2013
61
28th
I DO COCAINE!!!!
Rated 07 Sep 2015
40
32nd
Not as biting as it should have been. It skims over the collateral damage caused by his drug abuse, but Robert Downey Jr does a decent enough job portraying a drug addict. I suspect he was actually stoned in some of the scenes. Andrew McCarthy gave a rather lack luster performance. Jami Gertz was frequently caught acting. Overall the story disappoints because it handles the subject without the grit and heart needed to do it justice.
Rated 17 Jun 2019
25
10th
The leads are both astonishingly bad, but even if the rest of the cast were as good as Downey Jr. is here it would've still been a horrible adaptation and just a plain bad movie.
Rated 23 Jul 2019
76
53rd
All of these points are for the 80s style and Robert Downey Jr. (Very little depth and Andrew McCarthy was a terribly boring choice. I was okay with Jami Gertz.)
Rated 13 Aug 2019
35
23rd
I realize this isn't a popular opinion, but I'm just gonna say it - the book was better than the movie!
Rated 22 Jul 2021
39
31st
As Ellis has stated, the only thing this has in common with his novel is the title, and the names of some of the characters (oh, and the drugs)...everything of actual interest--starting with the plot--was eschewed. We're left with a succession of inane, drug-fueled parties in the toniest locations, full of over-privileged Gen X-ers. Despite such handicaps, Downey gives a real, imaginative performance, Jami Gertz is terrible. Andrew McCarthy isn't much better. Pretty locations, at least.
Rated 13 Feb 2022
70
36th
I didn't realize that this was a Bret Easton Ellis book but it makes a lot more sense now. This movie plays out more like melodrama than the biting satire that I imagine the book to be. Robert Downey Jr gives a very good performance in this movie I'm sure that he has a lot of life experience that he was able to draw on for the character. Spader was also great. The movie seems to be idolizing LA WASPs during the 80's. The people and the subject matter were taken too seriously.
Rated 20 Aug 2022
40
3rd
Rdjnewteeth+jamibeinghotistheonlyredeemingquality+thinktheytriedtogetawayandhediesinthecar

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