BEFORE: And Birthday SHOUT-out #12 goes to Christina Ricci (last seen in...ummm...Casper?) - born 2/12/80.
THE PLOT: 1973, suburban Connecticut: middle class families experimenting with casual sex, drink, etc., find their lives out of control.
AFTER: I suppose it's to be expected, after watching so many movies, that I seem to be hitting a streak of films that I'm very ambivalent about - they neither thrill me or disappoint me, they just sort of are what they are. Maybe it's a form of movie burnout, something has to go far in some direction to get my attention at this point.
That's not to say nothing happens in this film - quite the opposite, a lot takes place. People have affairs, young people experiment with sex, and college-age kids get stoned - but what does it all add up to? If there's some over-arcing message or some brilliant symbolism, I'm not seeing it.
OK, I suppose it's a snapshot look at the 1970's, an admittedly interesting decade that introduced concepts like "swinging", and the film became famous for its notorious "key party" swapping scene. But the decade also brought horrible things like waterbeds - how was THAT ever a good idea?
And like "Closer", the film seems to delight in highlighting awkward moments - like finding out your spouse is having an affair, or catching your kid involved in a make-out session with the neighbor's kid. OK, so life is filled with awkward moments - so what?
Starring Kevin Kline (last seen in "De-Lovely"), Joan Allen (last seen in "The Bourne Ultimatum"), Sigourney Weaver (last seen in "Alien: Resurrection"), Tobey Maguire (last seen in "Pleasantville"), Elijah Wood (last seen in "Everything Is Illuminated"), Jamey Sheridan, Katie Holmes (last seen in "Thank You For Smoking"), Allison Janney (last seen in "Miracle on 34th Street") and David Krumholtz (last seen in "Walk Hard").
RATING: 5 out of 10 comic books
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