Did I really pay for to see this?

Rating: Null/10 (7 September 2004)

American Beauty, winner of the academy award for Best Picture. No, academy award is supposed to be lower case as I have stopped considering them an actual awards show since this film won best picture. I figured that Titanic must have been a fluke and they were really sorry for that one.
Of course that's not the case. People actually like this tale of a man in a serious midlife crisis lusting after a teenage girl, and his adulterous wife cheating on him. And his daughter hooking up with the art freak drug dealer next door. Okay, we have a movie here. It could be a decent one.
But when you meet the art freak's father he acts so homophobic you can just say "Yep. He's Gay." They began to lay it on thick from the beginning, throwing all sorts of crap like this at you and hoping that at least some of it is good. Its a movie that reads like a book, and the book happens to be somebody writing random words and going to the publisher and saying "I think their might be a book in here." And yet the book is passed off as some sort of abstract art. Its just one overdone moment to an equally over done moment.
When we have an effective, true film like the Insider, something so chilling and effects all of us, and so well made and acted, I kind of want to see that win. Of course, I rather see Titanic win again than see a film that has such an over the top conclusion as this one.
This film gets no stars. It doesn't deserve to be counted on the star system.