Great performances marred by a politically correct ending.

Rating: 8/10 (21 December 2014)

This is Redford's "Ordinary People" updated for a new generation with a lot of political correctness thrown in- which ultimately undermines the film's impact. Great performances are turned in by all. But while Spacey gets most of the credit, Benning and Suvari far surpass him for complex and powerful performances. Spacey is too cocky and glib to make a truly believable ordinary suburban dad. AB is the story of a family held together by spit and shoestring- trying to present an appearance of normalcy to the outside world and to themselves. When Spacey loses his job, he comes to grips with who he really is and what he really wants to make him happy- and we find the other characters in the film struggling with this same question. Added into the mix are the new neighbors. We get a drug-dealing voyeuristic neighbor kid (who looks a lot older than 18), his gun-obsessed closeted homosexual Marine father, and a depressed, catatonic mother. It's the Marine father who kills Spacey, after Spacey rejects his advances. Sure, a surprise ending, but in a very contrived and "WTF?!" way. I would bet that the original screenplay had Spacey being killed by the father of Suvari- who was outraged and thought that Spacey had defiled his daughter. This ending would have made far more sense. But we never do meet Suvari's parents- who could have been just as interesting and complex as Spacey and Benning were. In fact, it should have been Suvari and her family who lived next door, and forget about the Marines, guns, and homosexuality. Admittedly, it would have been a completely different movie, but maybe a better one. Still, a good flick and if nothing else see it for the brilliant triad performances of Suvari, Benning, and Spacey.