Let's Begin
PLOT
Lester Burnham is seriously depressed. He lives in suburban hell with his perfection obsessed wife, Carolyn, and his also depressed, self-loathing, confused teenage daughter, Jane. And worst of all, he has Rodney Dangerfield syndrome, he "Get's no respect." Lester goes through a mid-life crisis once he meets Jane's friend, Angela Hayes, who he becomes hopelessly infatuated with. He then starts working out, taking authority in his home and in his life. The family's already troubled life starts to spiral out of control when the status quo is disrupted.
PROS
Their are no stand out performances, because all of them are amazing in their own ways. Kevin Spacey never ceases to surprise you with his range, Annette Bening's character is a horrible person, wife, and mother that you still sympathize with from time to time, Thora Birch is perfect as the teenage daughter, who is more believable than any teenager put to film, and so many more that if I put them all down, this section would have to fill another post.
The film deals with Mature subjects...maturely. What I mean is that it never starts acting so "mature" that it becomes immature. The tone is not always serious, in fact, there are some down right hilarious scenes, and they never try to appeal to multiple demographics. The movie was made with a mature purpose for mature people.
The score is like a parody of suburban life. It's very lighthearted and "normal", it sounds like something you'd hear in a phony commercial trying to convince you what they're advertising is wholesome and safe. And, strangely, it fits. While I still think the stand outs go against this type, the score still fits.
Speaking of music, the soundtrack (songs not made for the film) is very diverse. Lester starts listening to hard, classic rock that really embodies his new rebellious spirit, while Carolyn listens to old lounge, jazzy music that's boring and perfect for the background. It really shows each characters personalities without shoving it in your face.
The script by Alan Ball is perfection. The characters are realistic and so is the situation, people do things that are justified in their current state, and they say things that never go against character.
The final speech of the film, heck, the whole last 30-40 minutes, the "last day", is one of the most powerful and perfectly crafted scenes in cinema history. It left me sitting in the dark of my room with the only light coming from the credits, thinking and absorbing what I had just seen. The only time that's ever happened with me was after watching Black Swan.
CONS
Fourth times the charm? Nope. And I'm pretty sure you agree with me if you've seen the movie.
CONCLUSION
This is an amazing movie. I realized this when I watched the movie a second time, and not even halfway through I knew what I wanted to say about it, I knew what I had gotten out of it, yet I kept watching. It immersed me back into it's world, I just couldn't turn away. This is the perfect "discussion" film, a movie that starts a discussion about it's themes and what it was all about that could never, ever, ever, ever, ever end, and that's 4 evers. This is a must see for people (preferably adults) who want a movie made for them, a movie that never talks down and only tells it like it is. This is a new favorite of mine and one I'll happily watch again and again.
RATING
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