Unoriginal hostile charicature of "middle class"; a few good lines

Rating: Null/10 (7 May 2000)

This picture starts with narration by the protagonist (who says he's dead) and, very early, we are treated to a graphic silhouette of the protagonist masturbating in the shower, while he explains that he does this every morning and it's the high point of his day; it'll be all downhill from there. You might as well know that this is also the high point of the movie; it too is all downhill from here. If that's good enough for you, go for it; otherwise, save your time and money.
The movie includes just about every mean stereotype of the American middle class that can be crammed into it. The protagonist has a dull job he hates and eventually quits -- not to find something better (he doesn't try), but to pump iron, at least partly to impress the sexpot high-school girl friend of his daughter that he has the hots for; the girl thinks his attentions are cute. The daughter herself is a sullen specimen who decides she likes the weird boy next boy even though her introduction to him is catching him sneaking Peeping Tom video of her. The boy's father is an ex-Marine who embodies in extreme form of every Hollywood anti-military prejudice: a gun nut abusive to his son, totally oppressive to his a wife, and worse things I can't reveal without violating IMDb's "no spoiler" rule. The protagonist's wife is a brittle sort who sells real estate; she works frantically to fix up a house and then has hysterics when it doesn't sell the first day (I've dealt with many real estate agents recently; none remotely resembled this woman). And so forth.
Many critics loved this movie because this really is their image of America, which says a lot more about what's wrong with Hollywood than it does about America. As for the rest of us -- I went with my wife and another couple and, when we emerged from the theater, my wife said 'Well, that was different.' I said 'Yeah, different from entertainment!' The other couple agreed. Our unanimous conclusion: we should have stayed home and played bridge. You should to, even if you HATE bridge.