Spectacular movie gives a voice to the most basic of human emotions

Rating: 10/10 (19 September 2004)

I have seen this movie at least 7 times and each time I get more out of it. For me, this is the one of the signs of a great movie. Another sign of a great movie is where the viewer can relate emotionally with several of the characters; which is rare. In a good movie one can relate to at least one character but in American Beauty, one can relate to several characters at once.
We have all had these primal feelings of desire, loosing ourselves in material "needs", posing for the neighbors and those around us. This Movie strips those all away and gets down into the trenches of the basic human being. Humor and irony perfectly combined into a movie that is so well done that you can watch it and completely miss out on everything that is important.
Lester (Spacey) always being driven (literally and figuratively) around by his wife is not only a metaphor for how this world is run by women and their desires and how men get caught up in a world of trying to please them and become pus_y whipped in the process. Women don't respect a man who isn't "a man" yet they work feverishly on molding them into something they don't respect.
Carolyn (Bening) is so wrapped up in impressing people she doesn't know or care about, that she completely forgot what it is to live a fulfilled life. She has already "whipped" Lester years ago and there is nothing more that is fun for her to do.
Don't bother to see this movie if you only have time to see it once. Watch it without distractions. Let it digest for an hour to a day and watch it again. Great movies grow and blossom just like the American Beauty Rose.
Take this movie and let it inspire you to become more than you are but what you could be if you give up the nonsensical things you think are important.
In the end we all die alone and nobody cares if you were "perfect" but they will remark on if you lived your life to the fullest and this is what should be most important to you also. I hope this movie is the starting place for many people to begin living and respecting themselves as human beings.