Most Overrated Film in the Past 25 Years!

Rating: 2/10 (8 March 2000)

****CONTAINS SPOILER****WARNING!****WARNING!***** Where to begin? I'm not usually surprised at the bad taste of filmgoers, making such colossal hits out of Home Alone and The Lost World, however this film takes the cake. I enjoyed the performances, particularly Toni Colette, Haley Joel Osment, and the vastly under-appreciated Bruce Willis. However, as much as I admire some aspects of the film, the denouement is so predictable and frankly, insulting to any thinking adult, that the success of this film astounds me. If the film had been like "The Crying Game" where the "surprise" twist is interesting, but more importantly, a mere plot device to further the film in it's storyline, I might have had less problems with this movie. I was shocked that anybody would have been fooled for a moment about the health of Bruce Willis' character. If American audiences are dimwitted and unobservant not to notice the THOUSANDS of obvious hints that preceed the unveiling of the truth, then this is the film for them. It was insulting to have to sit through the final minutes of the film, being forced to relive earlier scenes that any intelligent moviegoer should already have noticed. The mere fact that Willis doesn't change his clothes ONCE should have tipped off everybody!
Well, my comments certainly won't stop those people that make hits of such movies as this, but I must raise my voice in protest since the last year has seen such incredible movies as Three Kings, Magnolia, Election, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Boys Don't Cry, American Beauty, Being John Malkovich, Topsy-Turvy, Eyes Wide Shut, The Straight Story, Sweet & Lowdown, All About My Mother, and underappreciated gems like The Limey and Go, and a half dozen more that will be remembered much longer than this slim piece of celluloid.