Look Closer... and prepare to be blown away!

Rating: Null/10 (20 December 2000)

I have seen just about every movie made in the last 20 years. In my family saturdays have always been movie nights and have been for a long long time. We see 90% turkeys and 10% classics. American Beauty goes above and beyond them all. The most intelligent, thoughtful, passionate movie I have seen in a Decade or more. I found myself asking again and again how can this be so good? How can it be so sad and hysterically funny at the same time. With the absolutely perfect sound track to make your emotions run the gambit, and a stellar cast who did an incredible job with this amazing script. With a director who made his debut legendary, this film surpassed my wildest expectations. It made me feel more emotions than I do in my ordinary life everyday. It also made me "look closer" at my life and the peoples around me and I saw beauty and strangeness I had never noticed before. Thank you Mr. Mendes and the entire cast of American Beauty for making a film that actually makes desensatized people like myself actually begin to feel something again. I recommend this film to anyone with a brain. However, people who are easily offended, prudish, or sheeplike and unable to think for themselves should steer clear of this movie due to the fact that it touches real yet uncomfortable subjects such as drugs and homosexuality/homophobia. This movie gets the highest rating possible in my and many others opinions... So... Look Closer... and ENJOY!