I have seen many films in my life, this one is the best.

Rating: 10/10 (28 August 2000)

No film has ever entertained, enlightened and had such a profound effect on me as Sam Mendes' directorial debut, American Beauty. The film tells the story of one man's rebellion against the social conventions that he has fallen victim to. It is also the story of the way his change effects the people around him, and the way that everyone slowly begins to be truer about themselves. This is one of the most genuine films, it is not afraid to show people at their truest, hiding behind masks to cover who they really are. In my opinion, films have a responsibility to do three things: entertain, enlighten and display great use of cinema. American Beauty entertains on every viewing, from the comedic elements that stand out as you watch for a first time, to the amazing depth that is revealed on every repeated viewing. Mendes' direction also stands out as a brilliant achievement which rivals the best works of Welles and Bergman. His visual style is both haunting and mesmerizing, and he develops a subtle pattern of character revelation. Whenever we see characters being their true selves, it is almost always through a window, a mirror or a hand-held camera. The acting is perhaps the finest work I have seen on film. Kevin Spacey gives a stellar performance, combining the obvious physical transformation he undergos with the subtle changes in his personality. Wes Bentley plays the character who knows the truest nature of beauty. His character Ricky is the film's real hero. Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Mena Suvari and Chris Cooper all succeed in creating apparently caricatured people who reveal subtle and sympathetic reasons for their actions. This is a film which has reminded me that most people who appear bad are only cowering behind their true selves, they have reasons for their actions which I can not possibly begin to imagine. This is also a film which has made me realize that life is too short to waste thinking about money or future plans, it should be lived lovingly in the present. I have seen many great films in my life: Metropolis, M, Citizen Kane, Rear Window, Psycho, Taxi Driver, Schindler's List, and that's just about 1% of the great movies I have seen. Yet this one, this treasure that was given to us last year, stands out above the rest. It is the only film that has affected the way I choose to live my life, indeed, one of the only works of art. I am not a suggestable type, but I realize that life should be lived, not planned for, not worried about, just lived. We should all look for the beauty around us, even in unconventional places. Seeing American Beauty, I didn't have to look very far.