Too Close To Reality

Rating: 8/10 (27 July 2006)

Funniest, and most "they can't go there" film I've seen since American Beauty. Realistic drug references and profanity unfortunately mean I can't recommend it to as many friends as I'd like, but that's also part of what makes this a standout story. It's easy to skewer little girl beauty pageants -- done here perfectly -- but who would think an old VW bus could be the object of both affection and derision? Trapped in a dysfunctional family? So is half of America. A washed-up Proust scholar? Okay, that's a stretch but also a wicked jab at pretentious scholarship. A old geezer who lets it all hang out? Just visit the nearest senior citizen center. A middle-age man hung up on possibility thinking? Actually, that's a perennial theme going back to Sinclair Lewis' Babbitt. A sullen teen who doesn't talk? Look at the house next door. A vulnerable little girl who just might survive the madness? One hopes so. And the most delicious off-handed comment is at the end. "These people are fu*ked up!" referring not to the characters at hand -- but EVERYONE ELSE!!!