Crime and Punishment in Suburbia is sort of an American Beauty meets Fyodor Dostoyevsky with a contemporary soundtrack a la the Gwyneth Paltrow Great Expectations.
Most reviews appear to have pooh-poohed the Dostoyevsky connection (and sticking it in the title is hopelessly pretentious, which describes this film in general, but teenagers are a lot like this movie in that they often do see everything as overwhelmingly important and that which is not particularly original as unique to their experience). I do think the Dostoyevsky elements are there, though, albeit from other books besides the namesake.
In particular, Vincent reminded me of Prince Mishkin, and the overall plot was a little more reminiscent of Brothers Karamazov. Like Dostoyevsky, it reaches too far and as a result is hopelessly muddled.
I linked the Ebert review because it's so typically Ebert. I can just see him oozing in his chair with unnecessary, over-the-top earnestness about this movie. IMO, he's right about several things, but it's sure not good enough to warrant the level of praise he glops on it.
It's sort of okay because it does try to do more than just exploit teenagers. But it's uncomfortable, ugly film that flops generally and isn't particularly well made.
The Michael Ironside stepfather--while horrific--almost rises to the level of a Dostoyevskian character. The best touch is having him so incapable of physically defending himself, despite his menacing physicality.
