"Elephant" takes on the making of a film about the Columbine tragedy but illustrates little more than what you might have inferred from reading about it in USA Today. Gus Van Sant gives us what looks and feels like a student film. In an apparent attempt to be real, there is so little happening and so little development of the characters that we never really come to care about the victims, or understand what brought the two student gunmen to commit the horrible acts against the other students.

The cameras follow various students and faculty throughout the day, in a collage of affected performances that make reality television seem intriguing. Eventually we are led toward the infamous shooting spree. I’m not sure what the budget for this film was, but seeing what Robert Rodriguez did with $6,000 in "El Mariachi," I think that Van Zant could have done better than blurring the lens as people are shot. Or better yet, he could have left the shooting out, had he explored the social and psychological conditions that may have played a part in what happened. Instead we only get few vague hints, like an overdone scene where one of the shooters is blasted with huge spitballs during class.

If you are truly interested in the tragedy at Columbine I would recommend seeing the Michael Moore documentary "Bowling For Columbine." "Elephant" has nothing to add and it’s unlikely to stir anyone, like the song "I Don’t Like Mondays," by The Boomtown Rats did in the 1980’s, after a school shooter tried to explain herself. There is one shocking scene where the two shooters make out in the shower while they get ready for their big day. They reason that they have never kissed anyone and that this is their last day alive. But don’t bother trying to read into it. This is no "Y Tu Mama Tambien." There is also one unintentionally funny scene, when three girls throw up their lunches in unison to keep the weight off. Other than that you’ll be checking your watch and simply wondering how in the world Gus Van Sant talked a high school in Portland, Oregon into letting him film this at their school.