American Classic

Rating: 10/10 (1 May 2002)

A true American classic! Funny, unnerving, poignant, repugnant, each character in the movie has their own flaws and foibles yet you manage to feel sorry for each one of them in different ways. Annette Bening is marvelous as the obsessively driven matriarch of the family. Kevin Spacey is perfection as her husband, who has been literally pushed aside by his wife and daughter. When he finally does decide to rebel, he does it with a fabulous bang, one of my favorite scenes is (MINOR SPOILER ALERT) when he's quit his office job and taken a job as a fast food employee, and his wife and her lover pull up to the drive-through window to pick up their food, the scene is priceless. Kevin Spacey delivers his lines to perfection, dripping with sarcasm and understatement. I was not familiar with Thora Birch's work before this movie, but she has the right combination of teenage angst and ennui down pat, with the total disgust and disrespect for her father as well. It's not an action movie but it's one you can view more than once and pick up on more little nuances you may have missed the first time. The ending was quite a surprise as well, I will definitely not spoil it here. A great movie with superb performances from all, leaves you feeling vaguely unsettled but it's definitely worth the watch. I give it 5 out of 5 stars.