I should have watched Syriana again

Rating: Null/10 (26 December 2007)

Guy Johns wrote: "I've come to expect a difference in the opinions of professional movie critics and the general public. After doing it for awhile, the pro's can identify better what it is that they do or don't like. It seems the more artistic the more that they like it. Regular moviegoers usually just want to be entertained, and too artsy can translate to small box office receipts. That's not what happened in the case of "American Beauty". It was on the top ten lists of critics nationwide and ended up winning the Academy Award for Best Picture."
He goes on to delineate how he saw very little of note in American Beauty. I didn't see much in it, either. How it won Best Picture, I have absolutely no idea. I just sat through this movie last night. When I heard the premise in 1999, it did not prompt me to scurry to a theater in order to see Spacey chase a teenage girl. In a purported comedy, no less.
I'm lucky that I never paid to see this mainly humorless attempt at depth and meaning. I winced at much of it, and a few scenes were cringe inducing. Annette Bening and the closeted former Marine caused the cringes. The slutty virgin did her share to make me regret spending my time on this.
If you want black comedy, rent "A Clockwork Orange", "Doctor Strangelove" or "Glengarry Glen Ross".