Not all that it claims to be

Rating: Null/10 (20 October 1999)

This film is admirable in what it attempts. There is a great hunger for art that reflects the despair people feel when confronted by the emptiness of their own lives. The best thing about it is Kevin Spacey's performance. The direction is imaginative and energetic.Many of the other characters are very poorly drawn and weak. Just because the film takes Spacey's point of view there is no excuse to make a shrewish caricature out of Annette Bening as his wife.
The script was often hackneyed, esp. when Spacey starts pontificating about materialism ("these are just things",etc.)
Isn't it possible for the medium to communicate anger and rebellion against one's life with a subtler touch. The highly praised climax was so wrought with contrivances that it left me cold and wondering why it happened. I realize that this is a minority view but someone's got to say it.