Customer Reviews

American Beauty

5 star:		(700)
4 star:		(123)
3 star:		(96)
2 star:		(70)
1 star:		(125)

 

 

I read somewhere that the overwelmingly red look of American Beauty is a symbol for blood and roses. Represented in the film by the flower petals in Lester Burnham's fantasies, and the blood spilt when the sadness that hovers beneath bears its face. The title of American Beauty does not refer to the pretty surfaces that hide the anguish of these people, but the beauty of their souls when dealing with that anguish. Many reviewers have considered the title to be ironic, it isn't. I've heard Kevin Spacey say that this film is about context, because taken out of context the behaviour of these characters seem bizzare and even phsycotic, but out with in the context of their messy lives or indeed anybody's life, it seems natural. If I tell you that Kevin Spacey plays a character who is obsessed with the idea of sleeping with his daughter's best friend, a daughter who constantly anounces her hatred of her parents, a woman so obsessed with appearances that happiness is but a memory to her, a loner who makes his living as a drug dealer with a firm rigid father living in denial about his son and himself, you would guess that there would be no one to like in this film. You would be wrong. This film is magical in the way it lets identify with these characters, care for them and worry about their outcome. Infact the ideas of American Beauty are nothing new. The persuit of happiness through the abanodoning of materialistic possesions and the satisfaction of primal, animal and natural desires was the exact same premise for Fight Club. This could be a middle aged version of that film. The family turmoil closely resembles Ang Lee's The Ice Storm 1998, and like that film, American Beauty ends in tragedy. But as with all masterpieces its not the "point" that counts, but how you get there. Just like the fact that anything new you learn in life is the history you don't know, most originality in movies is the movies you haven't seen and the novel's you haven't read. The fact that the film remains a masterpiece is a credit to the execution of those ideas, not their originality. Our hero is Lester Burnham a man who goes quits his job, black mails his boss, and goes wild for a year. His journey of self-discovery is not what your average citizen would call moral, yet we still sympathise. My favourite scene in the film is where Lester meets Ricky(Wes Bently) outside a part. Ricky sells marijuana for a living and makes a lot of money. Lester tells him that when he was his age he "flipped burgers all summer long" for very little money. "That sucks" says Ricky, "No actually it was wonderful." The heart of the film is this scene, Lester's yearning for those years where his whole life was ahead of him, when he believed he coul do anything, when he wasn't such a "loser". This purity is the Beauty to which the title refers. Ricky Fitts is the boy next door, a loner who likes to film people. His father is a rigid military man. Both Wes Bently and Chris Cooper who play father and son respectively give monumental performance equal to Kevin Spacey's oscar winner. Their family is a contrast to Lester's, and in its tragedy, emotional complexity and heart break exceeds it. Ricky's catatonic mother is perhaps what Lester would have become had he not taken charge of his life. I have tried to define this film, but its not a film that can be defined. It is one to be experienced. If I tell that the sight of a paper bag blowing in the wind will amaze you, you find it very silly indeed. Acredit then to this film that when Ricky show us a video of a paper bag blowing in the wind, it is indeed a breathtakingly beautiful sight.

"American Beauty" is a pure cinematic triumph that is both funny and sad. It's disturbing... and yet, it's extremely provocative and deep. The film is an extraordinary achievement that reveals a tragic and realistic story about a family that is anything but ordinary. It's a film with so many layers that it is almost impossible to dissect them all in one single thought.

Meet Lester Burnham; a man who feels like he's completely dead inside. His wife and daughter despise him and do not show him any signs of respect. On the surface, the family seems like a picture-perfect family that everybody dreams about--but inside is a completely different matter. His wife is obsessed with material possessions and doesn't care for "petty" things like love or life, while his daughter resents herself because she isn't "perfect." Lester's mental coma is rudely interrupted when he meets his daughter's friend and starts fantasizing about her. The awakening might be due to a disturbing thought or feeling, but the wake-up call changes Lester and allows him to realize that there's always time to erase his "forced-image" and be the person he really is. This is all a set-up for a funny, disturbing and tragic movie.

I don't know about everybody else, but my mind was literally racing around when this movie was playing before my eyes. It's one of those films that allows you to pick up on something different upon each viewing. As I said in the beginning of the review, this film has a number of layers to it. There's so many different meanings and points to the film that it is nearly impossible to describe them all in one little review. Besides, the fun part of the movie is discovering these meanings and points for yourself. You know a film is successful when you totally lose yourself to it and allow it to challenge you in every way. The film is crafted flawlessly and doesn't have a wasted minute in it.

The acting from Kevin Spacey is really a sight to see. He gives his character all of the right needs and feelings that is necessary for the authenticity of his role. You don't even look at him as an actor--but as the real person he portrays. It is certainly a milestone in his acting career that will continue to be remembered throughout all cinematic history. Annette Bening is also superb in her role and brings life to her character, as well. Everybody in the film should be applauded, as they all make the film what it is.

The DVD has some neat features to offer. The picture quality is fantastic and the sound is more than great. You have the option of watching the movie in DTS if your system is able to play it. Extras included are commentary from the director and writer, a behind-the-scenes featurette, cast and crew biographies, trailers and more. While I wouldn't had mind a Two-Disc edition of the movie, this is a pretty impressive package overall.

"American Beauty" is a breath-taking masterpiece with a very high replay value. It's a terrific film on every front and does not disappoint for a single second. While it's not a movie that everybody will like, it's most certainly one to check out if you are a lover of films. If you're looking for something that isn't so ordinary, then this may be the chance that you are seeking. I feel that it is a unique and superb film that is very hard to express in words--you'll just have to experience it for yourself. -Michael Crane

There's something special about "American Beauty" that's hard to pinpoint. I don't think I've ever seen a film with such a great ensemble of actors - everyone is perfectly cast, from Kevin Spacey's eerily lovable Lester, to Annette Bening's loopy real-estate broker Carolyn, to Thora Birch's hauntingly disenchanted Jane. And the Fitts family...whew. Don't even want to go there.

It's one of many films lately dealing with the disparity between appearances and their underlying realities. Lester's abrupt break with his superficial world is refreshing, and the chaotic circumstances that evolve from it are both provocative and entertaining. I think that, along with "Fight Club," "American Beauty" is the best of them all. The beautiful cinematography, outstanding percussion-centered score, precise and evocative *original* screenplay, and above all first-rate acting make this movie stand above all the others. Thinking about the fact that this is Sam Mendes' first film, and Alan Ball's first screenplay, gives me hope for the future of film in America. Not every movie has to leave you nauseous.

The first time I saw this film I was left thinking, "...is this what the Academy considers for a Best Picture? It seems a bit odd for considering a Best Picture nomination." But then as the days went on I couldn't get the images and music from the movie out of my head. I must admit, I am a Kevin Spacey fan ever since "The Usual Suspects" and to see my favorite actor once again I knew it had to be good. It wasn't until the second time I saw the movie that it hit me like a freight train....this is my most favorite movie of all time. Everything is perfect. Even the surreal rose-petal sequences are a visual treat.

The cast was given a razor sharp script to follow and each actor performed perfectly. Thomas Newman's haunting score was very intriguing. It think the ultimate scene that touched me was when Ricky (Wes Bentley) showed the simplicity of a paper bag being blown around by the wind to his girlfriend Jane (Thora Birch). The sheer magnitude of his finding beauty in something like that is why I love this film so much. The movie has a perfect blend of superior acting and cinematography.

A brilliant job to Sam Mendes, the entire cast, and to the Academy for giving this film every Oscar that it deserved.

What first seems a classic story of American dysfunction develops into a celebration of beauty in all things. Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening are the stereotypical representation of American suburbia, and on the outside, they appear perfect. The false perfection that masks the deadness in their lives is symbolized by the rose motif. Roses, although beautiful, have thorns, they wilt, and they can be eaten by bugs. But they appear perfect. The Burnam family revolves around possessions and status, until Lester Burnam (Spacey) decides that he will no longer walk through his life a spectator. What follows is a human spirit bursting through, an independent thinker making himself known, and the rotten core of the family is exposed. In sync with this main plot, a subplot develops. A teenager named Ricky Fitts moves next door. Carrying a camera, he films random objects in every day life, and all the while, speaks to his new friend Jane Burnam about the beauty in the world. "Sometimes, there is so much beauty that I don't think I can take it." In this sentence, the theme of the movie is revealed. There is beauty in all things. If we would just stop and look at the beauty of a leaf, a sunray, a blade of grass, a door...Lester Burnam discovered this beauty and realized that there was nothing in his life that he needed to hate or complain about because there is so much beauty surrounding him that he should be bored or dissatisfied with his life. This movie is a masterpiece, the rose motif, the sharp screenplay, the vivid imagery, the excellent characterizations--all of these things contribute to its oscar for best picture. Although the some of the graphic content may turn away some of the shallower viewers, the deeper meaning will appeal to your intellect and this is a movie to be enjoyed by everyone. It is one of the best movies that I have every seen.

I'd like to address some of the criticisms made in earlier reviews about this film and offer my interpretation. The main criticism seems to be twofold: firstly, the film uses cliched characters rather than realistic portraits, secondly, the film offers a simplistic message about breaking out of mundane everyday life.

To begin with, yes the film does use cliches. It's deliberate. At no time does American Beauty claim to be a realistic portrayal of suburban life. It uses extremes and saturated emotions, as well as saturated colours in the cinematography, to offer an incisive, sarcastic, and over the top criticism of Western Culture. (Althought the film is set in suburban America I think it could have been set in the affluent suburbs of many Western nations and still have been apt.) The characters are consciously and obviously stereotyped - the middle aged man in the throws of a mid life crisis, the shallow and ambitious real estate agent, the beautiful cheerleader, the latently homosexual marine - but we are encouraged to recognise these as stereotypes and to focus on the way in which these figures struggle with the details, desires, and fears of their world. It is a hypereality that is being presented, and is which is used to mock and criticise the actual.

Some have seen the film as little more than a saccharine message about being true to yourself in the face of mediocrity. I think it is a film about the impossibility of just that. There is no happy ending, no comfortable resolution, Lester ends up dead, and those around him frustrated, imprisoned, and weary. It's a film about the way in which society succeeds in alienating us from ourselves and each other, not about trite attempts to break out. Lester's job quitting and his buffing up don't succeed in bringing him happiness. Nor does Caroline's affair or rifle range education. It is the small, temporal moments that give us pleasure: small, fleeting visions of beauty in a cold and frustrating world. Overall, the film ends on a sour note (gorgeously contradicted by the score) and argues that simply refusing to cooperate doesn't stop the machine from turning.

Lester (Kevin Spacey) is middle aged and living what on the outside looks like a perfect life. Big house in a nice neighborhood, 2 cars, pretty wife and daughter, and a good job. But on the inside, he's miserable. His job sucks and he has to answer to a younger boss that hasn't even been there a few months. His wife is cold `b' and doesn't even want to have sex with him. His daughter hates him for reasons unknown. And he just really doesn't even like himself that much either. Then one day, he goes to a basketball game with his wife Carolyn (Annette Bening) to watch his daughter Jane (Thora Birch) do her performance in her cheerleading squad. That day changes his life on the spot. He sees Angela (Mena Suvari), Jane's friend, out on the court also, and he realizes his life is in a rut and he wants to be free from it. He quits his job and starts to work out again (mainly to get Angela's attention). He sells his car to get the car of his dreams. And he starts to smoke pot.

Luckily his new next door neighbor, Ricky Fitts (Wes Bentley) is a pot dealer. Not only a pot dealer but a weird documentarian that goes to school with Jane. Ricky's dad is a tough father who is also a homophobic Colonel in the marine corp. He loves his son, but sure doesn't know how to show it correctly. Though Ricky and Jane start to like each other, the interactions between Ricky and Lester leave the dad to wondering what is really going on between the two.

Carolyn, though a coldhearted `B', used to not be what she is today. She was once a fun loving free spirited girl, but Lester has no clue where that girl went. She's so wrapped up in her real estate business she doesn't even think of Lester anymore. Her arch nemesis in the biz is Buddy Kane, and even though she tries her best to beat the man, nothing works and it makes her incredibly stressed out. As Lester is trying to work out his mid-life crisis, his wife Carolyn is working out her stress in a much different way.

American Beauty is such a great movie. The way it looks into the soul of the normal suburbanite family is really funny and great. Nothing is perfect no matter how it looks. Somedays I really feel like Lester even though I'm not married or have kids. Where I'm just stuck doing the same thing every day and then `BAM', I go a little crazy and break out of that shell. I've even quit my job before because of this. Thank God to, because now I'm much happier. Though you can't help but feel bad for Lester. At least I do. He did so much to support his family, to have them only hate him in the end. Sure he's not always there for his daughter, but that's no reason to be hated. She actually joked about killing him. Seriously... what the heck. Her life could be a million times worse. And his wife, ugh, I'm not even going to go into it. How a woman could do what she does to him is ridiculous. And even though Ricky Fitts is friggin crazy, he's still a cool character. I don't buy into that whole `deep' and `emo' stuff he says about floating bags and dead people/animals, but how he's so blunt about things makes me really like that character.

In the end, I would definitely watch this movie. Such a great story, and such a sad ending.


P.S. - I really hope Angela was 18.

This was going to be yet another in a long, dull line of Hollywood diatribes against the stultifying, boring and banal existence of suburbia as they perceive it. It starts off that way. Kevin Spacey is 14 years into a job he loathes, he can't communicate with his wife or daughter, and everything in his life is dull. His wife, real-estate agent Annette Bening, is obsessed by success. She begins her day by repeating some stock motivational phrase: "I will sell this house today; I will sell this house today." She ends her day by almost breaking down when she doesn't. Their daughter is an uncommunicative selfish brat, who hates them both. This story is so hackneyed and these characters are so insipid that the first part of the movie plays as a dark comic romp.

But then Kevin Spacey perceives beauty. It is in the form of his daughter's cheerleader friend, a blond-haired teenaged nymphet. He is obsessed with her, lusts for her, dreams for her. Her beauty, this beauty, changes him. He begins to dismantle the life which he has lethargically allowed to be constructed around him. "When was the last time you felt joy?" he desperately asks his wife.

"You're going to spill beer on the sofa," she replies.

In the meantime, their daughter has become infatuated with the next door neighbor's kid, who himself is fascinated by videotape. He shows her one of his favorites. It is nothing more that a piece of trash, a plastic bag, blowing around in the wind. But he perceives beauty in this; an order; a sense of calmness; a benevolent force. In fact, he sees beauty in everything. It sometimes overwhelms him.

Kevin Spacey finally realizes this too, in the last moments of his life. That there is beauty around us in every single day of our lives. A white cloud against a blue sky, a green field in the spring, a woman's face, a baby's cry, a piece of music, a young girl, a bag blowing in the wind. We must open ourselves to this beauty, for there is something incredibly important behind it. A benevolent force. A kind force. It tells us to relax, to enjoy. To not be afraid.

We are loved.

Many people have denounced this movie because of its supposedly undeserved praise at the Academy Awards and in part for the ugly rumors that circulated as to why it garnered so much exultation. I remember reading that one person was angry because so many beautiful films that were nominated, containing deep and intriguing subject matter, were snuffed for a self-absorbed screenplay portraying a dark and perverse white suburbia. The film is not about this, and is far from any other dismaying assumptions people might have made. It is about what each of us perceives as beautiful in our own eyes, be it purely physical or the beauty we find in each other deep down in the pit of our fragile souls. It is about being thankful for the priceless gifts bestowed upon us and finding splendor in the simplest of things in our every day lives. It shows us that image can only take us so far before the truth about our personal nature must be revealed and the consequences we suffer when we dishonor that truth.

I'll admit that I was slightly disappointed upon my first viewing of the movie because of its incomprehensible and climactic ending. However, upon continual viewings, my interpretation of it began to change, and I realized why its writer chose a tragic finale. I saw what message it was trying to convey to its every viewer, and I felt profound sorrow upon realization of the amount of ignorance in our world, yet I had a sense of hope. Granted, the film possesses good amounts of acerbic banter and biting humor to avoid being completely grave, but its overall message behind the mature and sardonic jokes is all too significant and more optimistic than some seem to think. The moral I pulled from it is this: Recognize what is important, because in the blink of an eye, it could be gone. Life is short, rough, but priceless. Don't go through it with a narrow mind, either. Open your eyes to everything around you and force yourself to take a deeper look. There's something beautiful in every single thing we see, no matter how it appears at first glance. And no, it doesn't matter what kind of person you are, you can see anything as long as your heart is open to it.

Now that I'm past the fight for artistic recognition, I'll move on to the stellar performances that this film boasts. Let's start with our main attraction: Kevin Spacey. Is there anything this man can't do? The first time I ever saw him was in the eerie portrayal of the sly and sanctimonious serial killer John Doe in "Seven", co-starring w/Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt. He continued to impress with debonair bits as the smug prosecutor Rufus Buckley in "A Time To Kill", and as Jim Williams, the rich Southern playboy with a dark secret in "Midnight In The Garden Of Good and Evil". But compared to the pessimistic and sardonic persona of Lester Burnham, I've never seen such an entertaining or more realistic character portrayed. Lester is the epitome of the middle-aged American male: 40-hour week job at a boring, sanity-consuming marketing firm involving telephone promotion run by a self-concerned, money-minded CEO. There is a dark haze over his satisfaction towards his marriage and his life, the opinions of his wife and daughter laying waste to his crumbling self-esteem. It is in the moment that he lays eyes upon Angela Hayes' (Mena Suvari, the perfect ditz) glamorous visage that his ultimate awakening from his half-dead life begins to blossom like the rose he envisions. Angela becomes his obsession, and in his obsession he gains a new appreciation for himself and revives his fleeting youth.

Now for Annette Bening - great airhead! She's the perfect bitch when the situation calls, but aside from Carolyn's constant henpecking towards Lester, she's an insecure and melodramatic woman on the brink of insanity. She too suffers from the maddening simplicity of every day life, seeking her comfort in her social status and professional success. She eventually pursues her cure in the odiferous arrogance and professional guidance of real estate mogul Buddy Kane, a man with equal insecurities who cleverly conceals them behind a Mentadent smile and pricey designer suits.

Watching from the sidelines with a constant sneer and a quiet, festering hatred for her parents is the self-loathing Jane (Thora Birch). I remember Thora from films that catered to a younger generation, notably the portrayal of a young Melanie Griffith in "Now and Then", and the endearing Dani in "Hocus Pocus". She has grown into a talented woman with the magnificent performance she gives in this movie as Lester and Carolyn's pessimistic teenage daughter. She befriends our beloved, self-involved Angela, hanging among Hayes' pungently supercilious aura with not a care for her own image until Ricky Fitts (Wes Bentley), her new next-door neighbor, fosters an innocent obsession towards her. The infatuation soon blossoms into a delicate romance, deep and meaningful. In their love for each other, you see the modern cliches of America's definition of beauty melt away into a more profound look at the human soul and all of life surrounding it.

This movie is an excellent character study and a delicate look at what lies in the human heart. I would like to remind those that didn't really understand the content and gave it poor reviews because of their incomprehension that misunderstanding is the most common reason for disliking. I beg of you to watch this film again with an open mind, disregarding the somewhat strange anecdotes and scenes that were chosen to remain in the film, but with good reason. You will begin to see its light, and I hope it will touch you like a film never has...

I have waited for the video version of this film for quite a while, and I'm not disappointed. This is one of the best dark comedies I have ever seen. The quirkiness in the film is both hilarious and unsettling at the same time. I love Kevin Spacey in this film -- he deserved every bit of that Oscar. His protayal of the sexually frustrated, unhappily married Lester was precise. Annette Benning was also great, one of her best performances. The supporting cast members were incredible, especially Thora Birch. Indeed, a great film. But I have one objection: where is the DVD version of this film?