Having read Stephen King's highly excellent original, I was incredibly disappointed by the film adaptation. It seemed like it was constantly pulling its punches, making the lead at high school graduation age instead of a young boy, and softening many more aspects that I will keep silent about, in case anyone cares to read the story (which I recommend, it's from the book of short stories called Different Seasons). The original version aside, I also expected a lot more from Bryan Singer stylistically. I found The Usual Suspects to be positively captivating, and Apt Pupil just fell short. It lacked in story, and didn't make up for it with style. Granted my expectations were high going in, but this film didn't even come close to the greatness it should have been.
