It's sad to see so many people miss the point of this movie.

Rating: Null/10 (13 February 2002)

The only reason I am writing this is because so many of the people who have commented were apparently oblivious to the purpose of this movie. First of all I'd like to clarify why the movie is called American Beauty. Remember the red roses that keep showing up throughout the movie? Well those specific type are called "American Beauties." Second, this movie is primarily about redemption. Until Lester Burnham meets Ricky Fitts, he has been living life for all the wrong reasons. As Lester said in the beginning, part of him died twenty years ago. By learning from Ricky, he is finally able to get that part of himself back. At first he thought that missing part could be fulfilled with erotic desire (Angela), but eventually he realizes that it was all the simple things in life (remember the flashback?) are what he is missing. This is why it was appropriate for him to die smiling at the picture of his family next to the bouquet of American Beauties. In some sense, his redemption seems to be religious, although I need not go into the details of that.