one of the true greats-my new fave film!!

Rating: Null/10 (11 April 2007)

i watched this movie with a friend of mine last week. i had already heard about the film and was interested in what it had to offer me as the voyeur. so me and my mate bought a chippy and decided to watch it and from the start, and i was hooked.
the way it is made...from the very start it captivates when you watch it, you are brought into an emotional state, and you have no choice but to take in every emotion the characters have to offer. Do you know why? Because its extremely truthful, Almost harshly.
It all starts with Lester Burnham(played immaculately by Kevin Spacey) a middle aged man who's going through a midlife crisis, having to put up with his money desperate, socialite wife(Annete Bening) and his teenage daughter Jane (Thora Birch). He feels that he cannot surprise himself anymore, as one can in youth. A midlife crisis is also a time when he will likely be feeling anxieties about his attractiveness to the opposite sex. but oh boy, is he going to get a shock...
the movie gets knocked up a notch when Angela Hayes comes into the scene(Mena Suvari) and very quickly Lester is starting to fantasize about her. But through the film, following all the revelations, such as the drug dealing boy Ricky Fits, and his homophobic father, the chain of events which occur involving all these people increase Lesters sense of freedom. Angela shows Lester that anyone can surprise themselves at how they feel, no matter what age they are. Ricky however, brings up the main point the movie is making. Look closer. You cannot see all the beauty in this world if you do not look for it. Both Angela and Carolyn (his wife) hide themselves behind a façade of beauty and success, but inside they feel different. Like when Lester is about to get out his winker for Angela, believing she is not a virgin, when she reveals that she, in fact is, Lester gets back his sense. He knows that he doesn't really want to take away the virginity of a girl half his age, and now feels satisfied. Because he has looked closer, and seen that Angela is not all that she appears to be.
Much like the homophobe father, colonel fits. After he "looks closer", he sees what appears as Ricky "testing out Lesters magic monk" is really them dealing marijuana. But then, we find out the CO himself is actually gay, or a "faggot" and "cocksucker" as he would call it, and now Lester has "looked closer"!
What I mean is that you have to look closer to see the real person, the real world etc. you have to look for beauty, not just sit around and wait for it to come to you.Lester realises this when death comes to take him, just how beautiful this world is, and the things in it, he just had to open his eyes to it. And you can find the beauty in this film, and it is a truly great beauty.
All you have to do is look closer.