A Mediocre Satire

Rating: 5/10 (20 April 2000)

Okay,...it's not that I didn't LIKE this film....I mean,...it was FINE. It's a decent film, but the fact that it got as much praise and as many accolades as it did is really ridiculous and offensive to me. If the "draw" of this film is supposed to be that it goes "out on the edge" and gets to the heart of a "typical American suburban family",...then I personally just don't get it. I didn't find this film to be revolutionary or new at all. There have been DOZENS of films out there that have covered this topic and covered it beautifully and with more thought. I love Kevin Spacey. I think that he's a wonderful actor and he's the entire reason that I didn't hate this film completely. Without him, it would've been a REAL steaming load. But other than Spacey's performance, I HONESTLY don't understand what all of the fuss is about. I would love to respond to what people love about this film, but I HONESTLY don't get it. It wasn't original or new, the storyline was violently predictable, and the attempts at emotional manipulation of the audience were thinly veiled as what MUST be very personal and emotional experiences for the writer of this film,...but not so much for me as an audience member. I just HONESTLY don't understand why this film was so highly acclaimed when BEAUTIFUL films like:
AHEM!
"The Insider"
were cast aside.
I think that it's a SERIOUSLY depressing state of affairs for the American film-going audience when we are reveling in a film such as this for "showing us the truth".
Please,...