The more I see it the more I hate it

Rating: 1/10 (21 October 1999)

Technically, this movie doesn't exactly break new ground--it portrays the dark side of suburbia--that's been done in the '60s (No Down Payment), 70s (Stepford Wives) and 80s (Blue Velvet). This movie does the same thing but got a lot of praise--WAY too much.
Annette Bening and Kevin Spacey are good. Bening basically plays a cold, materialistic "witch" who cares about money and furnishings more than anything else. She's never played a character like this and she's just great. Spacey plays a man who we see, in the course of the film, imploding. He feels trapped and disgusted with his job and life and goes to extremes to escape his situation.
SPOILERS!!! So he rebels against conforming and drives his wife (who wants to conform)and daughter crazy. Then there's a turn around with his character at the end that I didn't believe for one second. He realizes that he does love his wife and daughter and decides to make them happy. Then he's killed. So--the message here is to conform or you'll be killed. That message is pretty scary and negative. And he's killed by a closeted gay guy whose advances he rejected. That's more than a little homophobic. SPOILER END!
The acting is good and the film LOOKS great--there are some beautiful shots here--but it's message is horrible, negative and more than a little scary. It's now considered one of the worst pictures ever to win a Best Picture Oscar. I agree!