Winner of 5 Oscars and 6 Baftas this movie is one which nonetheless seems to have people pretty much divided over how they feel about it. In all honesty, there isn’t that much which actually goes on here in terms of plot and action, but it is the characterisation, the interplay between the characters and the delightful script and observations which carry it through ad make it well worthy of these awards in my opinion.
It focuses on a family, in particular on the male head of the household played by Kevin Spacey. He is in the middle of mid-life crisis, his wife Annette Benning is a workaholic, frigid towards him and having an affair, his daughter respects no one and her friend is one hell of a flirt and Spacey has fallen for her. I think thats about it in a nutshell. Sounds as boring as hell, but trust me, it most certainly isnt.
The scripting here is simply superb. The observations of family life and relationships is brilliant and the characterisations of the people involved are superb. Kevin spacey is an enormous acting talent and Hollywood is fast coming to accept him as being one of their finest. Here, he is simply awesome...and so is Annette Benning for that matter. I can not fault either of their performances in the slightest. The direction is also superb and even manages to make a plastic bag blowing in the wind a memorable scene...which has to be something of a first.
I am not a fan of this type of movie. I hate slow moving character portrayals or movies which never seem to be going anywhere, but even so I adore this movie. What it does, it does so well that you can’t help but love it. 5 stars.