Rate the Oscar-Winning Directing: 1999 (CLOSED)

6

The movie itself gets way too much hate and everything that goes into it kinda follows along, but it and the direction are perfectly fine. I think the big issue with it now is looking back at how great a year 1999 was for film and seeing which films have endured over the last 25 years and how this one was chosen as the big winner that year makes it seem much worse in retrospect than it actually is.

6.

10.

Respect for sticking to your convictions man

6.5 - agree the screenplay is much worse than the directing

always loved that scene of Bening driving home from the shooting range singing "Don't Rain on My Parade" on this sunny day in all-American suburbia, and Mendes cuts to the gun just casually sitting on her front seat. Not subtle or revolutionary especially by 1999, but I love the shocking juxtaposition of the idealized "normal" with the violence underneath the surface ("look closer" blah blah). Great scene, almost campy with Bening belting out that showtune, and I wish the whole film had been that playful instead of completely disappearing up its own ass. I also wish Spacey's character wasn't a pedophile given how uninterested the script was on commenting on it.

I like to imagine what Alexander Payne or Todd Solondz would've done with this story (with re-writes), but Mendes is one of the better things about it.

7.5

4

7 / 10