Less Than Zero | Gen X's 1987 Gem in its Stunning Excess

As Gen Z slowly but surely unearths gems in film history, one of our beloved Gen X films, Less Than Zero, always seems to escape their discovery. This is because the film is not available anywhere- when it is streaming for a few months on MAX, my various text threads light up, but alas, it leaves as quickly as it comes.

One of my top 10 gifts ever received was the Vinyl LP for my Birthday 5 years ago and they can pry my burned DVD of the film from my cold dead hands. It's one of my all-time favorites and I am not alone.

Everyone knows that this is Robert Downy Jr.'s best performance, that fans of the Brett Easton Ellis novel hated it, that Jami Gertz' performance was widely criticized (not by me- I love it) and that Brad Pitt is famously in the movie as a random party guest, but let's look deeper into the design, the cinematography and the soundtrack. In this episode, we begin looking at the creative elements of this film that no one will discuss with me. No one. So here I am, crowd-sourcing for as much info as possible to put into one place. Kelli and I scoured what is out there and are parsing it into 2 episodes. If you are out there and worked on this film, please know I have reached out to find you and have heard back that you will not talk about the film or I haven't heard back at all and would absolutely love to.

This Gorgeous Film was assembled by:

Director: Marek Kanievska

Starring: Robert Downey, Jr., Andrew McCarthy, Jami Gertz, James Spader

DP: Edward Lachman

Production Designer: Barbara Ling

Costume Designer: Richard Hornung

HMU: Deborah Figuly, Adam Christopher, Barbara O'Neill, Angelo Di Biase

00:00:00 1987's Less Than Zero

00:03:20 Depicting Addiction in Film and Robert Downey Jr.'s unforgettable performance.

00:05:48 Robert Downey Jr. interview clip

00:09:16 Impresario Rick Rubin and his first soundtrack- Less Than Zero

00:11:37 Class Consciousness in Production Design

For more insights and interviews, check the show notes and stay tuned for a follow-up episode as we continue to uncover the mysteries of Less Than Zero.

LINKS:

Less Than Zero on DVD

Less Than Zero on Vinyl

Less Than Zero Book

Some IG gems

Looking back on the gorgeous ’80s excess in Less Than Zero - Interview Magazine Bret Easton Ellis - Interview Magazine

Brat by Andrew McCarthy Excerpts on Less Than Zero

Brat by Andrew McCarthy

The BEST way to Support is to SUBSCRIBE

INSTAGRAM