Fantastic film

Rating: 10/10 (3 February 2003)

As I write this, I realise that I'm ruining the symmetry...1999 comments on a film made in 1999!
Anyway, this film quite rightly hails as one of the best films ever made. Sam Mendes deserved that Oscar so badly for Best Director - not bad considering that this was his debut - but was denied for some reason (could it be because he aint American... sorry to my fellow wonderful Americans, but I'm pretty cynical when it comes to things like this...). Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening definitely deserved Best Actor/Actress and the overall film, surprise surprise, was Best Film.
Having said that, I saw this film on a recommendation from a friend (she thought it was awful!) and loved it immediately. I bought the video and watched it three times back-to-back, each time it was different. How many films can say that?
I'm biased in a way because I count Kevin Spacey in my all-time top 5 actors (currently he's #1), having seen him in The Usual Suspects and LA Confidential, but this film was different. At least as clever as the others but more thought-provoking. It made you look deeper at what these normal people were like on the inside. Lester Burnham's regression to an almost adolescent indifference to the rules of life is amazing. I'm not afraid to say that the ending has made me cry on more than one occasion.
All in all, I'd give the film 10/10 without hesitation or reservation. See this film at least once. I thought it was excellent, so hopefully you'll get some satisfaction from it (Mena Suvari, gentlemen?!)