A bit pretentious at times, exaggerated at others but will still touch a nerve with those of us that look at our `stuff' but wonder where our happiness went

Rating: Null/10 (10 April 2004)

Lester Burnham is stuck in a rut - he is having a midlife crisis, alienated from his wife and daughter, sexually frustrated and longing for a feeling that he had as a young man that responsibility robbed him of as an adult. When he meets his daughter's best friend it kicks off a realisation that his life needs to change, starting with quitting his job and acting less responsible. Meanwhile the lives of both Carolyn and Jane Burnham begin to change in different ways as they also try to deal with the empty days that they seem to live.
When this film came out it jumped almost to the top of the imdb top 250 list - much as many films that make a big audience think or feel something do. Also it gained award after award and was basically held up as a generally great film. I saw it at the time and was very impressed by it as it touched a nerve in some regards. Watching it several years later I still am able to take some thinks from it but am more open to the faults that are within it. The actual plot is exaggerated in terms of it not fitting in with the average audience member's experience. However it's wide wings will mean that it will speak to a large section of it's audience.
The points it has to say are very broad but are delivered in a reasonable manner - i.e. not overly veiled but not rammed down our throats. I like to think I am a few years off a midlife crisis but I can see my life in Lester's feelings, as many of us can - hence the film's success. This is not to say that the whole plot is perfect for it is not. The film is slightly arty and, sadly, a bit pretentious. I almost dare not say it as I know many audience members were very touched by the `bag scene', but I did think to myself that the film must be very good to be able to carry off a scene that is so full of cheese and pretension! This happens at several points throughout the film in different ways and does take away from the film somewhat. Likewise the film's lapse into `whodunit' towards the end doesn't really work either. Happily the central plot and the classy delivery from director Mendes makes for a great film.
The cast greatly helps and were appropriately rewarded for their work. Spacey may have been in the process of losing his edge by this point in his career (hopefully he'll get back to his best, but he hasn't at the time of writing). Here he is great and his semi-comic delivery helps smooth out some of the unlikely edges on his character. Bening is given a lesser role in terms of not being central to the story but her character is actually more emotionally real than Lester - she has to deal with life like the majority of us whereas Lester flees from it. Birch is good and underplays well while it is nice to see Suvari in a film that isn't average. Bentley has the least role of the film as his character is the most abstractly drawn and least realistic. He is OK in the role but he is limited by what he has to work with. Janney's role is small and one dimensional but her performance is great - it is hard to believe that this is the same woman that plays the super confident and talkative CJ in West Wing! Cooper is as good as ever and small roles are well done by Gallagher, Bakula and Robards.
Overall this is a very good film but I find it hard to accept that it has been consistently as high up the critics (amateur and professional) lists as it has been. It has a good plot that has broad enough characters so that most viewers will find something to relate to, but this stretch also opens it up to problems that serve to weaken the film somewhat. That said, this is still a film that is thoughtful, artistic, character driven and moving - and when a big Hollywood film manages to do that then it is a cause for praise, not complaint.