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It's still amazing to
me that Kevin Spacey directed Albino Alligator, one of the
worst movies ever made. Otherwise, this guy has been making such good
choices in the past few years, with The Usual Suspects and
L.A. Confidential, to mention just a couple. Well, he keeps
his streak alive, with this amazing movie that keeps you talking well
after it's over. I can't really put into words exactly what I loved
about it. I mean, it's got flavors of Election, the obvious
Lolita angle, with just a hint of the Phoebe Kates pool scene
from Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Again we have the group
of suburbanite losers who think theirs are the only problems in the
world. Dysfunction is the name of the game. I've always thought Annette
Bening was a little stiff and stand-offish in her roles, but she really
shines in this movie as the neurotic, neat-freak real estate broker
wife of Kevin Spacey. Sure, she botches a couple exchanges here and
there, but her overall performance was terrific. So why did I like
this movie? The film makes you think. . . think about what it means
to live inside this world where we take our lives for granted, the
little things, the big things, the everyday things. We think about
how we can be more than ordinary, escape our little lives and take
advantage of the few years we have on this planet. This is time that
too many people spend feeling sorry for themselves, feeling insecure
and living lies. In fact, the only truly happy people in this movie
are Spacey's gay neighbors, Jim and Jim, who live without shame, and,
when faced with their homophobic Marine neighbor, have a pleasant
comeback to his taunts, without a trace of bitterness or hatred. Anyway,
the film was smart and well filmed, although there are a couple Spacey
dream sequences that bring this movie from a five star movie to four
and a half. Just go see it, I guarantee you'll like it. [movie theater]
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