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Rating of
4/4
It's never too late to get it back.
Jacob Zembower - wrote on 04/29/2014
One of the few years the Oscars got it right (the film won 5 oscars including Best Picture) American Beauty still remains an american classic. There have since been many films that have depicted dark side of suburbia, but none of reached the towering heights witnessed here. Kevin Spacey (for which he won Best Actor) gives one of his greatest performances as Lester, a regular guy with nothing to lose. But really the entire cast is wonderful, especially Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Chris Cooper, Wes Bentley, and Mena Suvari. Featuring a pitch perfect script, which mixes acidic humor with pure emotion, sumptuous cinematography, and a haunting original score, American Beauty is an enduring masterpiece of modern cinema and probably Sam Mendes' best film. It's truly brilliant.
Rating of
4/4
Look closer...
memento_mori - wrote on 06/24/2013
American Beauty. What is it really about? Love? Mid-life crisis? Mellow high?
No, it's simply a man's story, as diverse as it may seem.
American Beauty is one of the most beautiful movies I have seen in my life, and is coincidentally the movie that gave me the trait of analyzing movies or simply 'looking closer'. There is simply no other way to define this movie. It's just 'beautiful'.
To understand a movie is to understand a work of art, and that gets you respect. And it's been three years and I still can't understand what AB is completely about.
Kevin Spacey delivers a revitalizing-of-his-career performance, so do Annette Bening and Chris Cooper.
The well-structured script introduces us to Lester Burnham, a troubled husband and father and clichéd everyman who hates their job, …
Rating of
4/4
"American Beauty" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 03/16/2012
Lester Burnham is undergoing a serious midlife crisis; pining for his lost youth and obsessing over a teenage cheerleader, he's married to a joyless go-getter who encloses herself in an armour of sarcasm and self-help and has a daughter who he cannot communicate with and clearly hates his guts. Most of the laughs in this film are provided by Lester's social rebellion, but it's communication (or lack thereof) is what this wonderful film is all about. Full of people who feel suffocated by their own apparently meaningless lives, it's a story of ordinary people full of wants and needs but unable to express them because of the overwhelming feeling that they must do what is expected of them; they must at least APPEAR to be "normal". Lester's fantasies about the young girl are just projections …
Rating of
4/4
American Beauty review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 07/13/2011
I never thought I would watch this film because of its hype. The debut of this talented film director was on display. The flawless cast includes Kevin Spacey (the stressed Lester Burnham), Annette Bening (the insecure wife) and Thora Birch (troubled teenager Jane). It also stars Chris Cooper as Col. Frank Fitts and Mena Suvari (Angela Hayes). This drama made me laugh at certain scenes. So many symbolisms and critics have analyzed the film. This speaks of volume of its influence on human nature. Repressed feelings are one of the emotions displayed by Lester. Family is another premise conveyed by the picture. Spending time with Jane and not making love to Angela as if she was a daughter. Another subject that I felt was touched upon was the feeling of belongingness. This is what …
Rating of
4/4
Everything That Can Happen, Will...Eventually
PsychoKing1227 - wrote on 08/21/2009
One of the best films ever made, hands-down! More to the point, though, and to be more specific, I have to give a great amount of respect to then-newcome Sam Mendes, who apportioned his entire reputation on a film with gravity, comedy, and tenacity. The art direction in the film was superb. The writing was intriguing (Alan Ball is my favorite screenwriter, period after this). The performances by a diverse cast were unmatched that year. To top it all off, it was a beauiful film, incorporating more themes than should be allowed, but delicately handling them all with the care that could be afforded to it. What I appreciate the most about this film: how it changed my life in more ways than one. It allowed me to see through the horrors and cliches and into a deeper, more broad, yet …
Rating of
4/4
Kevein Spacey at his best @ #53.
mdtinney - wrote on 06/02/2009
On a scale of 0 to 100; I gave American Beauty a score of 99.
Wow…no, I mean that. American Beauty is a film that takes my breath away each time I watch it, and every time I do watch it, I notice something newer, something more exciting and something more funny. There is honestly no other movie like this, and if you haven't seen it, there is something donged in your head, and you must do so now.
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is in a mid-life crisis, caused by his stressed wife Carolyn (Annette Bening) and rebelling teenage daughter Jane (Thora Birch). When Lester and Carolyn go watch Jane cheerleading, they meet Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari), and Lester, caught in sudden lust for Angela, decides to change his life. Angela and Jane's friendship is not all it seems, too, because …
Rating of
3/4
Rewarding
Franz Patrick - wrote on 08/19/2008
I understand why some people could be a bit put off by this film. At first glance, it may seem like nothing much happens, but when one really looks into it, it’s like watching the inside mechanisms of a volcano about to erupt and causing unimaginable destruction. This definitely reminded me of “Desperate Housewives” in its finest dark humour. When characters are miserable, it’s so funny because of the way they react to the seemingly smallest disturbances of their perfect lives. Kevin Spacey is incendiary in this film because he’s able to capture a suburban father who is sick of his family and his own self-image. Annette Bening is so entertaining to watch, especially during her freak-outs (which ironically are her most human scenes) when things do not go the way she expects them …
Rating of
4/4
Review - American Beauty (1999)
Delorted - wrote on 11/11/2007
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) lived a pathetic life in a pathetic home with his pathetic wife Carolyn (Annette Bening) and daughter Jane (Thora Birch). His life suddenly began to change, however, when he met Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari), his daughter's friend. His outlook on life gradually improves throughout the Best Picture winning film, "American Beauty."
I'm just going to cut to the chase and say that there is absolutely nothing I do not like about this movie. The whole cast is truly believable and emotional. Kevin Spacey gives an outstanding performance as the ever-depressed Lester, and Wes Bentley gives an astonishing performance as next door neighbor Ricky Fitts.
The script is one of the most wonderful put to film. The story is dark and dramatic, while the way it plays out is …
