A bit overhyped, but great

Rating: 10/10 (1 December 2001)

I was fortunate to attend the premiere of this movie in my city, without any glamorous people around, and it was a great evening. I don't remember seeing a movie this witty and funny at the same time. Blew me away. Maybe it has been overhyped, but that's how things are now when it comes to speaking of movies - either they're savaged or hailed as something too hot to be missed. I wish that scale would change and things were less extreme.
WARNING!! - LITTLE SPOILERS.
The acting is superb, especially Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening and the strange neighbour, played by Wes Bentley. How striking are his facial expressions while he and Jane are watching the video featuring the plastic bag being shaken by the wind. This scene is awesome. The two young females (Thora Birch and Mena Suvari) do a pretty good job as well. Too bad that, in the latter's case, she has a weakness for playing cheerleader's roles. Let's see how she has been in The Musketeer.
By the way, I wish we could do the same as Kevin does in the film - to tell our boss to get lost when we've had enough of abuse at work.

One of the things I most like about American Beauty is the huge number of memorable quotes in the script.
To sum up, a great movie, not recommended for people with dead brain cells, whose number, unfortunately, is becoming bigger as time goes by.
10/10.