a mixed review

Rating: 3/10 (16 February 2002)

Lemme start out with what I liked about this movie. Spacey deserved his Best Actor Oscar, and there were many other good performances as well. The movie also had a remarkable score. As for the plot, well, I enjoyed it at first, but as I thought more about it, I liked it less and less.
Having seen this movie, I am not surprised that it is #16 on the #250 list - not that I think it deserves this position, but I've begun to recognize the voters' trends. Call me a cynic, but I think that many people vote 10's for movies with plots like this, that are fairly hard to understand, because it makes them feel more intellectual. "Other people can't follow this plot? Well, I can, and I'll give it a perfect 10!"
I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to say that this movie has a big surprise ending. But, without the ending, this movie is nothing. It'd have a 7.5 rating, tops. The movie is a decent crime / thriller without the ending, but there's no way it'd be #16 by votes.
SPOILERS: I guess we weren't really meant to understand the plot, since the ending negates it all. So the only part of this movie worth watching is the last five minutes? I didn't mind the negation ending, but I wish the movie could've taken some time to explain just what was true and what wasn't. END SPOILERS
In any case, it's probably worth your while to experience this movie. But, don't vote it a 10. It doesn't need a higher rating.