Good movie but not great (spoilers!)

Rating: 5/10 (4 January 2001)

I bought this on DVD, having missed it in the theaters, because I wanted to have the best possible viewing experience. I'm glad I bought it, and I'm glad I watched it, and I'll watch it again .... but this is not the masterpiece that the hype suggests. It's far from being the sixth-best film of all time, no matter what IMDB reviewers say.
Good things first, though: the performances of Spacey and to a lesser extent Bening were terrific. Spacey is cementing his reputation for being one of the most versatile and compelling actors of his generation. Bening's performance here is probably her best; normally, I would consider her a passable actress, but she is simply excellent in AB. The supporting cast delivers solid or better performances. Peter Gallagher was quite understated. (But what the heck was Scott Bakula doing in such a throwaway role?)
**** SPOILERS AHEAD *****
While the dialogue and plot were well thought-out, I was somewhat annoyed by the standard Hollowwood archetypes and scapegoats. The talent of Bening and Spacey avoided making their characters the now-standard emasculated hubby/castrating wife stereotypes, but didn't Spacey cover some of the same ground in "The Ref"? It seemed to me that The Ref's satire was more biting and more true than here in AB.
Isn't it time to retire the abusive-military-guy-who-hates-gays-but-secretly-is-one cliche? Chris Cooper is an excellent actor but even Olivier couldn't rise above this characterization. He's a seething cauldron of hate, so guess who's the bad guy at the end of the movie? I saw that one coming a mile away. While we're at it, let's let the BRUNETTE be a bimbo for once and let the BLONDE have more than 5 working brain cells, okay? And can we please, please, PLEASE get rid of the "I'm brooding, so I must be deep and philosophical" characters.
The problem with this very good film is that Hollowwood considers suburban family life to be its arch-enemy (along with the military), and AB's point of view is jaundiced by this and therefore lacks true substance. I wound up thinking that although the movie was well-made and well-acted, I didn't know any of the people, except Spacey and Bening. There was no resonance to any other characters. The end result is that you feel deeply involved in the action, but the characters (and ultimately, therefore, the plot) seem contrived.
I'd definitely recommend it for viewing. If you feel suburbia is greatly peopled by the above stereotypes, you may have more appreciation for American Beauty than I did.