Kevin Spacey brings humor to a self-obsessed world

Rating: 7/10 (4 October 2003)

I remember when this movie came out, it got acknowledgment from nearly all of my friends as an amazing movie, and then went on to win Best Picture. Due to some twist of fate I didn't see it until a few months ago, and I think that helps to give my opinion a more unbiased light; I'm not caught up in the rush.
I watched this movie with my best friend, and I'll be honest, we thought it was hilarious. Both of us thoroughly enjoyed Kevin Spacey and his very acerbic realism, because we felt he was the only realistic character, and had been stuck in the middle of a crazy, neurotic world where he was the only one looking at the world through the eyes of sardonic humor and intelligence. Let me explain.
*SPOILERS*
The scene wherein Kevin Spacey ruins his wife's first impression with someone she thoroughly admires, The King (of real estate), is absolutely hilarious. It really shows how much he doesn't belong in what is otherwise, a boring and predictable soap opera.
The scene wherein the neighbor's son is showing Thora Birch a video of a plastic bag, and claiming it holds such life and beauty, is hilarious. That he focuses on this inanimate bag in a gust of wind for SO LONG is very funny; it isn't deep, it isn't meaningful, it is a PLASTIC BAG! I really hope that wasn't supposed to be serious, because I felt that it implied how little people understood about what life was. If he spent this much time admiring a plastic bag, he wouldn't have ever found his way home.
The scene wherein Kevin Spacey pictures Mena Suvari dancing alone for him is hilarious. Such artistry is given to a scene that implies pedophilia; the true humor is in the obvious fact that she had no idea what he was thinking. Reminiscent of the scene in Pulp Fiction where Lucius Wallace pictures Tarantino's wife as black just because he is.
*END SPOILERS*
I couldn't fathom how people thought this movie was anything more than a sardonic comedy about Kevin Spacey being a character, obviously out of place, in a soap opera drama. He is what brings life to this movie, and he casts a more unrealistic and silly light over some of the other bizarre and ultimately pointless events.
Don't think that this is a BAD movie... but just consider that, in my opinion, it isn't deep at all. But for what it is, it's very, very enjoyable. 7/10