Spacey and co. shine in one of the '90s best films

Rating: 10/10 (13 August 2008)

American BEAUTY (1999) Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, Chris Cooper,Mena Suvari, Allison Janney, Scott Bakula, Sam Robards.
Winner of 5 Oscars including Best Picture, this devastatingly darkly comic drama scrutinizing the atypical American family focuses on beleaguered family man Spacey (Best Actor) whose life is going nowhere fast with his ambitious cheating realtor wannabe wife (Bening, Best Actress nominee) and angry, estranged daughter (Birch) and the influence of their new neighbor, spooky emo boy Bentley adding some spice to their lives and ultimately a downward spiral or is it. Filmmaker Sam Mendes (Best Director) and scribe Alan Ball (Best Original Screenplay) sublimely cuts at the underbelly of social strata in modern-day suburbia with canny precision. One of the decade's finest films.