Beautiful, contemplative, positive!

Rating: Null/10 (27 February 2000)

American Beauty is a highly intelligent movie with a clever balance of humour and seriousness. Every major character has a story, all of which are deftly interwoven, resulting in a touching, wonderfully funny film. One might imagine that seven or eight stories might crowd the plot of the movie, and yet American Beauty presents us with them with ease, and without seeming rushed or overfull. Kevin Spacey (as Lester Burnham) was truly brilliant as he always is; perhaps even better than usual. In fact, the casting is flawless, especially the seven or eight major characters - Spacey as Lester, Annette Bening as Lester's wife, Carolyn, Thora Birch as their daughter, Jane, Mena Suvari (who played Heather in American Pie with great grace and skill) as Jane's friend Angela Hayes, Wes Bently as Ricky Fitts, Chris Cooper as his father, Colonel Fitts, Allison Janney as his mother, Barbara, and Peter Gallagher as Buddy Kane. Quantum Leap fans also get the surprise of a small rÃ´le for Scott Bakula! Through an unusual set of circumstances, I ended up being given a couple of tickets to an exclusive preview screening (the release date of American Beauty for the UK and Ireland was 4 February 2000) of American Beauty. What a film! ... and to get to see it almost a week and a half before the rest of the country, and free of charge... You can't get a better deal than that. This is a thoughtful, contemplative movie, a beautiful and funny movie, and more than worthy of your time and money to go and see it.