Beautiful but flawed.

Rating: 8/10 (14 March 2004)

I have a dichotomy of opinion on this film. From an artistic standpoint, it's terrific. The acting and direction are very good, and the story line is clever and interesting. But the message underlying the film bothers me quite a bit.
First the praise.
Kevin Spacey is simply excellent as Lester Burnham, a middle-aged man drifting through life with no direction until he develops this crush on his daughter's luscious girlfriend. All of a sudden, Lester develops character and some backbone. He gets the inspiration to tell off his prudish wife (Annette Bening), a career-minded real estate broker who's sexually withdrawn from him. He tells off the new personnel man at work and gets himself fired with a sweet severance package. Lester begins working out, to develop muscles for his new crush, and starts smoking $2000 an ounce pot with the kid next door.
Kevin Spacey is tremendously funny in his understated way. He isn't overtly hostile to others, but he defends his newfound freedom in the most subtle ways, like when he catches his wife cheating on him.
Chris Cooper is also excellent as the ex-marine who moves in next door and immediately starts suspecting that there's something wrong with his goofy neighbor. He's both a scary character as when he acts out against his son and a pathetic creature when he comes to Spacey for comfort.

Annette Bening's performance is a little too on the surface - you don't get much insight into her character. I didn't realize at first it really was her - I thought is was someone trying to act like Annette Bening. Wes Bentley is very good as Ricky Fitts, the kid next door who develops a crush on Spacey's daughter (a high school goth who hates her parents). His weirdness and emotional detachment underscore the central theme of this movie.
Which takes me to the part I didn't like, the underlying message of this film. If some future archaeologists ever uncover a DVD of this film, they'll have some real insight into why American civilization collapsed in the 21st century. I mean, the negativity about family life and personal relationships is deadly. What does this film say about how we picture ourselves? That we're chronic screwups who can't relate to one another and that there's no hope for a familial relationship in our society?
I was captivated by this film as I watched it, but it did leave me with an uncomfortable feeling when it ended. It was as if some great force had sucked all the emotional life right out of the universe and all we were left with was moral equivocation, aimless thought. Some people - well, a lot of people obviously disagree with my reservations (it is rated in the Imdb top 30), but I can't help but feel this film reflects poorly on our culture.