Not Up to "Ordinary People"

Rating: Null/10 (25 September 2000)

This is a well-photographed, uniformly grandly acted dark view of suburban life, yet we know how it will end by the opening prologue. Bad mistake. It's a film that won't wear well through the years, not really one to see again and again. See the 1980 "Ordinary People", which is extraordinary through its subdued way of building up to an emotional climax. There's nothing gruesome and obvious about it.