Unsettling

Rating: 10/10 (23 February 2000)

You could probably watch through this entire movie, from beginning to end, and be subtly impressed with the excellent acting, the fine directing style, the interesting character development, and the well crafted storyline.
You could even sit in awe of the fantasy scenes create by Kevin Spacey's character, and think of how intense the colour and shapes of the visions he has really are.
You could feel sad, and depressed as the teenage daughter watches the collapse of her family, and how the actor that portrays her gives the part such life and reality that you'd believe it no matter how many times you saw it.
And still, at the finish of it all, you could probably just walk away and think 'That was a good movie' and eventually forget about it.
But I didn't. Especially not after the closing monologue. Even from the opening of the film, where you learn of Lester's eventual death, it is still a very shocking thing to see, something you never really expect to happen. It was this, the final fall, and the beautiful way it was carried through by the director, the actors, and the story itself that left a lasting message with me.
It'll probably be different for most of you. But that doesn't really matter. I enjoyed this film very much, and would gladly watch it many more times. It was unsettling in how familiar it was, and how much I could relate, but unsettling in a way that gave me a chance to evaluate my own life, and view my own goals with some greater point.
I wonder how many people actually hated this film, its likely to be a very small number.