'It's hard to stay mad, when there's so much beauty in the world' So true for American Beauty

Rating: 10/10 (14 June 2010)

There seems to be a host of mid-life crisis films that get magnetised to me. First was Lost in Translation, now it's American Beauty (I would be surprised if the next one is James Bond). And they both have a lot in common. Hugely funny, tragic and more gripping than if you cling-filmed yourself to the TV while they were playing.
Kevin Spacey (You can start to get excited now) plays Lester Burnham, an advertising executive who despises his job, has a marriage 'just for show', has a daughter who hates him and he nurtures a crush for her friend Angela. Okay wait a minute, that sounds a tad like a paedophile; but he has a reasonable excuse in that he is suffering all the former three - oh and the fact he has a year to live.
There are no explosions, tacky use of CGI or bad placed performances. It's just an accurate interpretation of a family willing to cover up its inevitable division and loathing for each other. What makes it so special is how realistic it becomes without ever falling to the standards of a melodramatic soap opera drama.
First timers: Director Sam Mendes and Writer Alan Ball have struck gold. No scrap that, they have struck beauty; and made a film so immersive, so enjoyable and just, well perfect it feels like any other duo could have ruined the fragile issues and motif's that are so sensitively handled.
Plus the fact that Kevin Spacey is some type of acting God - I never realised how hilarious arguments can be; there is really nothing that can be faulted about American Beauty and it fully deserves its place in the IMDb top 250.