Director Sam Mendes gives us the first true masterpiece of 1999 in what is also his first time directing for the screen. Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening give us Oscar-caliber performances as two forty-something parents whose marriage has become void of any passion or real love for each other. I won't go too much into the story, because it doesn't really matter. The film is really character-driven and the cast of characters that support Spacey and Bening are all fantastic and each one has his or her own fascinating yet peculiar traits. While the overall mood of the picture is really a very optimistic one, its hard to see that until the very end of the film so hang in there. And be prepared to laugh and be disgusted, but at all times pay attention to how real everything is. I feel like I know every character in this movie personally.

Noted Broadway and London stage director, Sam Mendes ("Cabaret") is making his directorial film debut with this masterpiece of black comedy; what a brilliant debut it is! He puts a spotlight on the members of a typical suburban family and their ever-so-normal neighbors, and then proceeds to turn them inside out, showing us the rotting interiors of these people. It doesn't sound very funny, does it? But it's absolutely hilarious, if you can take some very sophisticated over-the-top humor...some of it very sexual in nature. The performances by ALL of the actors, are nothing short of amazing, especially Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Chris Cooper, Allison Janney, and newcomers Thora Birch, Mena Suvari and Wes Bentley. There'll be many Oscar nominations coming out of this film in February!