yeah, it'll grab ya

Rating: Null/10 (11 December 2000)

It always surprises me how when stuff like this ends up on "The Jerry Springer Show" (and he does have TONS of stuff like what's in this film), it's touted as "trash". Yet, when it finds its way to the big screen, it can win Oscars. Hmm. And number 6 on IMDB's top 250 list? Wow! Anywho, a working stiff loser (Spacey) decides to spice up his life with hasty decisions. Meanwhile, his perky-beyond-belief wife (Bening) shakes things up as well, and their sad sack daughter (Birch) begins a fascination with a peeping Tom (Bentley) next door. That's basically it, but writer Ball juices up the proceedings with trendy, 90's explicit dialogue and outrageous situations. That was my only problem with this. In terms of pace and entertainment value, the happenings were fine. In terms of believability, I didn't think for a second this could take place where it's all set. Upper class suburbia? Not-uh. Where Jerry Springer's guests reside, maybe. The fact that two families, equally mentally unbalanced, could be living next door to each other, was too unrealistic for me. At least the performances should grab you. Spacey, doing yet another rendition of his soft spoken, cool, confident type characters, is terrific as the sarcastic Lester. Bening, I would guess, purposely overdid the phoney, smiley housewife well enough. Birch, a looong way from her child acting days, does nicely as the alienated teen. Supporting them were Suvari, the sexy teen bimbo obsession of Spacey's, and Bentley as the creepy guy next door. They give you lots to chew on, plus an ending with a couple of surprises. But as we usually see in films, after the big climax, the credits roll and we never find out the fate of some of the characters. Always annoying. Though I would never hail it as high as most, still a graphically interesting ride for those not shy about sex and morality.