what are we all searching for in life?

Rating: 9/10 (6 July 2005)

Director: Sam Mendes, Script: Alan Ball, Cast: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, Meni Suvari, Chris Cooper, Peter Gallahger.
Very good comedy drama by Menses and Ball. This film makes one think about what's really important in life. The Burnham family in this movie have a fancy house in a nice suburban neighbourhood with lots of materialistic things, yet none of them are happy. They are all searching for something that they cannot obtain. They have taken life and each other for granted, something all of us Americans do. This movie is really a character study on the members of the Burnham family:Lester (Keven Spacey), Carolyn (Annette Bening), and Jane (Thora Birch).
Ricky Fits (Wes Bently), the new neighbour boy next door is the one character in this film who sees happiness within himself in spite of the problems around him. I think this is because he is able to see beauty in things that other people see as ordinary and he is able to enjoy the simple things in life. He comes across as being weird to other people but Jane becomes intrigued by him and the way he sees things. Carolyn is searching for happiness not from her family but through her career. And Lester,who much of this movie centres around, is going through a middle age crisis. He longs for the lifestyle he had when he was younger and happier. He is tired of the way he is being treated by his boss, he wife, his daughter. Two people in this film will have a profound effect on him: Ricky and Angela (Meni Suvari), Jane's high school friend. As the story starts to unfold and we learn more about the characters, we come to realize that people are not always who they seen to be. Meaning that once you really get to know someone, their is a lot more to them than what we saw superficially before we really knew them. For example, through most of the film Angela came across as being a self-centred, narcissistic little witch but as we got to know her toward the end of the film, she is actually very nice. She was just acting that way to hide insecurities within herself. This film has a downbeat ending but it is to be expected.
This is a film that will stir up many emotions. All the characters are very well developed. With repeated viewings one can get something new out of this film. This film is a contemporary classic.