one of my favorites.

Rating: 10/10 (23 May 2008)

after the "usual suspects" and "the life of David gale" i had great expectations of this one when i came in its possession. the first 10 minutes or so almost disappointed me as i began seeing the feature as a "self-indulgent" attempt in giving moral and ethical excuses. but then the characters are developed very well with such realistic aspects that strikes close to anyones personal life at least at some moments in time. unlike "the godfather" for example, this is not an instant classic for its artistic merits but because of its content.
family and individualistic dis-functionality here is not something taken to extremes with wacky scenes for the purpose to raise its entertainment value. the feature is deeply sarcastic with quiet many comic-tragic situations.the tone and the dialogs are made for anyones understandings, as shown for the general public agreement in rating this productions as one with the highest score ever. technically this addresses teenage, middle age and gay issues(as related to a standard American family with generally only one child) and the relations in-between.for example the Kevin spacey visual fantasy is one of a kind at least as generally seen on the silver screen. also, an interesting aspect rarely seen; that of an "abusive" wife(i guess unless one asks an ultra feminist this question, i think i can safely assume this aspect here as general).
while ALL actors are playing their roles excellent(the plot itself definitely helps with that or at least in how we perceive those as be) i was/am mostly focused on Kevin spacey. here is an example of an actor that has always choose his roles carefully.(his NEW movie as a director "21" is the only one kind of disappointing , but hey everyone deserves a "try" or 2 right?). in here he resembles so well an "ordinary" American and the life( or parts thereof) he might have in the "suburbs"(same actually could go for the wife, Annette Bening).his whole , new found approach towards life changing resolutions creates situations of pure simplicity, yet generally socially ignored in any over developed consumer society; that is the reason for which the title has "american" in it and not "chinese" for example. all the characters will make the viewer reflect on past, present, future... and "tense"...