AmateurMovieReviews.com

One of the most thought provoking and inspirational films I've ever had the pleasure of viewing. Spend 122 minutes lost in the reality created by director Sam Mendes and the gifted cast...you'll laugh, you'll cringe, and you'll weep with joy as well as sorrow. It was promoted in what seemed to me a rather unusual fashion, most of the focus on the 'older unhappily married man wanting to bang a gorgeous teen girl who happens to be friends with his daughter' plotline...what the movie actually has to offer is a blatant, no holds barred submersion into the life of a man who has forgotten how to live.

Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is a 42 year old man who has been gradually beaten into submission by his increasinly domineering wife Carolyn (Annette Bening), disillusioned with his job in the advertising world, and one of the major disappointments in the life of his daughter, Jane (Thora Birch). The introductory voice over is Lester speaking to us, describing his life in the past tense. He informs us that as we enter his life, he's 42 and will be dead in less than a year, though he doesn't know it yet. He starts every morning by jerking off in the shower, which is usually the high point of his day. Type A, anal retentive wife Carolyn is outside pruning her roses, complete with matching clogs, pruner, garden gloves and apron. She exudes perfection...her home, her car, her career as a real estate agent...on time, organized...and Lester is the big loser, running behind, nearly emotionless and completely exhausted by his very existence.

At dinner that evening, after yet another monotonous day for Lester (during which he is forced to meet with the 'efficeincy expert' at work and is informed that he will have to create a written sales pitch for himself in order to keep his job) he asks Jane how her day at school was. She says 'it was okay' and Lester replies 'just OKAY' and Jane counters 'No, Dad...it was SPECTACULAR' and leaves the table after asking him what more could he expect from her as he has barley spoken to her in months.

Carolyn decides that they must take more of an interest in Jane's life and drags him to watch her cheer at a basketball game...there's a special dance number she's been working on for weeks, but instead of watching his daughter Lester is entranced by her friend, aspiring model Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari). His intense attraction for her becomes his catalyst for change, though at this point we're reasonably sure he is beyond redemption.

The process of Lester surmounting all that has pinned him down is the core issue of the film...and should serve as an example to us all. Why do we allow those close to us, or those who sign our paychecks, control our lives completely with us uttering naught a word of protest? Is it fear of loss, fear of conflict, or is what we've become so far from where we began that we can't help but hate ourselves? Lester first stands up to Carolyn...she catches him jerking off while lying next to her in bed (thinking of Angela, of course) and instead of quietly accepting her tirade and apologizing he places the blame where it should lie...with her and her lack of interest in him sexually, choosing instead to focus on what everyone else thinks of her and her career. It appears that she wasn't always this Carolyn...at one point later on in the film, Lester asks her what happened to the Carolyn who would run the stairs of their apartment building to flash traffic helicopters. He loved that Carolyn, and as he discovers the old Lester, he realizes that one of his fondest wishes is to have her back.

We're introduced to the new neighbors, the Fitts'...retired Marine Frank, zombie-like wife Barbara, and son Ricky...who wanders with a camera filming nearly everything he sees. He takes an interest in Jane, whom he thinks is beautiful...and also supplies Lester with some marijuana that helps him recall earlier times when life was peaceful, meaningful and worthwhile.

Lester winds up quitting his job with a nice severance package, giving him the opportunity to further assert himself and find not only who he used to be but discover the man he'd like to become. He and Ricky get to know each other a bit better, and Lester is purchasing grass from him regularly. When Lester sees Ricky's room and all of his electronic toys they begin speaking about work and childhood...one of the best lines from the film (though there are many) is when Lester tells Ricky that he spent a summer flipping burgers and Ricky replies that it must have sucked to do so and Lester stares dreamily into space and smiles, saying 'No, actually, it was great...all I did was party and get laid.'.

The story comes to a head one rainy night and ends with Lester being shot point blank in the head while holding a photo of himself, Jane and Carolyn at an amusement park, thinking for the first time in a long time that things might actually turn out to be okay.

Mendes' directing allows us to see not only the story written by Allen Ball...he provides us with a not always pleasant look deep inside ourselves and at our lives. Time is short, and today IS the first day of the rest of your life...unless it's your last. An amazing commentary on society and what it has become, and how the optimism of youth quickly turns to the pessimistic negativity of adulthood...and how we'll do almost anything to get it back, no matter how late.