Why is this movie so extremely popular???

Rating: 7/10 (12 July 2000)

I have had a very hard time understanding, why this particular very American movie has climbed so high in both the ranking of my fellow imdb.com viewers and of the Oscar committee. Don't misunderstand me - the movie is OK: Good plot, well performing actors, but it can hardly be called star movie material.... Especially seen in comparison with a movie like The Sixth Sense, which I personally found to be the most excellent movie of last year.