Let's not go overboard

Rating: 7/10 (9 October 1999)

I read the various reviews on IMDb and they made this sound like the Movie of the Decade. So I figured it was a must-see. I saw it and didn't think it was particularly exceptional. The movie is sort of a sex, lies and videotape meets I Love You Alice B Toklas. Kevin Spacey plays a harried father who decides to "break out" of the mold. The somewhat stereo-typical supporting cast is good, but this movie is driven by Spacey's performance. Problem is, once everyone has been introduced and after about the first hour, we're all dressed with no place to go. And there's no place to go here, at least no particularly interesting place that the movie takes us. To a younger crowd this movie might seem ground-breaking and I guess it was in some ways, but not in any way I found particularly significant. What I guess was the primary message - that sex with beautiful women/girls really isn't everything in life - seems pretty obvious to me even without seeing this movie. The pop-philosophy ending did nothing to help. 7 out of 10