Great!

Rating: 9/10 (4 January 2000)

This is simply a great movie! It's that rare proof that big Hollywood studios are really able to make great and interesting movies if they set their mind to it, and for once give up the idea of making another big budget blockbuster with a lot of stars and a lot of explosions, but with a story that's too silly to be true! As far as I know this is the first really interesting movie made by Dreamworks, the studio founded by Hollywood's boy wonder Steven Spielberg and friends. The expectations about this "independent studio" were very high, but so far never came true. Now they finally do. This is the kind of movie one expects from intelligent film makers. It's all about a "disfunctional family", and all kind of strange things that happen to them in their suburban surroundings. At times it all seems a little too much, but eventually everything falls into place, and the film is never predictable. The storytelling of the narrative voice over brings back memories of "Hollywood Boulevard" ( without giving away too much about the plot). It's especially the movie of Kevin Spacey! He's simply fantastic, and on his way to becoming one of my favorite actors ( after for example his roles in "The Usual Suspects" and "L.A. Confidential"). The scenes with him are the very best of this film, but the rest of the cast is also of very high quality. The film is beautifully shot, and has the wit of a good Woody Allen movie, and reminded me a bit of last years much praised "Happiness".