Move along...nothing beautiful to see here, no matter how close you look

Rating: 1/10 (28 March 2009)

Call me late to the party but I just got around to seeing this so-called masterpiece 10 years after its release. Thank God I spent nothing on borrowing this film on DVD. Although it did waste about 30 minutes of my precious lifetime before I decided to call it quits and shut it off. How this garbage made so many Oscars is beyond me, and how it can be in the IMDb top 250 just shows the simple-mindedness of those who haven't seen a good drama. These characters are vapid and there's absolutely nothing to like about them. If this is Sam Mendes idea of brilliant direction, he's taken the acting talents of Spacey and Bening spewing lines of hatred and practically turned them into freshman acting school robots. Script? What script? This is a juvenile fantasy made to appear "grown up". Fast Times at Ridgemont High had more real life drama and substance then this...and THAT film was juvenile, but at least it had some entertainment value.
You could say I'm judging this film unfairly because I didn't bother watching it in its entirety. But if after 30 minutes a film doesn't have any conviction to convey some sort of plot, story, message or substance--it's not worth my time and it shouldn't be worth yours. For those who are trying to find some "deep" philosophical meaning to all the rose petals, I say have a cup of coffee and get off the Zoloft and Prozac.