Everything is not always as it appears

Rating: Null/10 (21 July 2011)

American Beauty attempts to give us a glimpse into the lives of many American families where the parents stay together just for show and pretend to live a happy life. In reality they are absolutely miserable and their children resent them because they see right through the fakeness. Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) thinks being miserable is all life has to offer him until he becomes infatuated with his daughters teenage friend, Angela (Mena Suvari). Lester then sets out on a course to change his life. He starts telling his wife Carolyn (Annette Bening) exactly what he thinks with no regard to the consequences, quits his job, and starts smoking pot. The theme of this movie is that everything is not always as it appears. Taking a closer look would reveal that sometimes a perfect happy looking family is actually far from it. Ricky Fits (Wes Bentley) spends all his time taping the Burnham's daughter Jane (Thora Birch). Jane's friend Angela warns that he is a psycho and spent a long time in a mental hospital. Nobody realized that Ricky grew up with such a strict father and was beat frequently as a child. Jane takes the time to get to know the real Ricky and they both realize they have a lot in common between their messed up families. Throughout the entire film we here Angela talking about all the people she has been with and making herself out to be this person that everyone wants. She appears to have such confidence and seems to enjoy putting others down as she builds herself up. In the scene between her and Lester, we finally realize just how insecure Angela is. The truth is she thinks she is exactly what she tells everybody else is the worst way to be, ordinary. Lester does not take advantage of her but assures Angela that she is far from ordinary. The movie ended in a way I was not expecting with Lester being shot in the head and us wondering who did it. Although seeing the blood on Mr. Fits (Chris Cooper) shirt makes us believe he did it even though Lester's wife Carolyn was carrying a gun.