From the start, we are treated to interesting decisions. A video flash-forward. That moody music. The masturbation scene. The use of the color red. It all sets the mood for what is to come.

And how it builds from there! We are looking right into the frantic desperation of ordinary lives. And of course, it wouldn't be a movie if it didn't unfold in some interesting and dramatic ways.

Every character is fully realized. I used to think there was one exception, that being Mrs. Fitts, and just the way she is so flat - but that's her character. And, though I may try to deny it, there are secondary characters here (Jim & Jim, the Real Estate King, a couple kids at the school, the people at Mr. Smiley's). The ensemble of main characters, though, are so full of depth and their own contradictions - it would be easy to watch them for much longer.

On the production side, everything is spot on perfect. The sum of all its elements is not just an artistic statement, but a philosophical one. The title really resonates all over the place here, which I'd like to see a lot more films actually try to do.

But it does fall short of perfection in my mind, but just barely. We're talking a few seconds in a couple places that could be cut out or slightly altered for exactly what I want (and of course I'm right).