A Truly Unique and Thought Provoking Film

Rating: 9/10 (31 July 2000)

I remember hearing the buzz about this movie when it came out in theaters last year. I had planned to see it, but for some reason never got around to it. One year and five Academy awards later the movie "everyone" was talking about is out on video, so I decided to see what all the whoopla was about. I'm one of those people who is really picky when it comes to enjoying certain movies. Because I'm sick of all the Hollywood clichés and the "ooooh, ahhh, special FX without a plot routine." Well...American Beauty seems to be a remedy for all the crap that is Hollywood these days.
Returning home from Blockbuster I popped in the video, turned the lights down and for some reason felt I would be disappointed once again. Needless to say, 123 minutes later as the last part of the credits rolled up and the screen turned blue I was still staring at the TV, completely enriched within my thoughts and contemplation's of American Beauty, the movie `everyone' was talking about. I mean, to put it briefly, this is one of the best movies of the 90's, one of the BEST MOVIES EVER!! Just in my humble opinion. Never, since Schindler's List or the original Star Wars has a movie been able to engross me in such a story. I mean WOW!! I have so many positives for this film. Basically the movie focuses on Lester Burnham(Kevin Spacey) who is having kind of a mid-life crisis going on. Since the movie is narrated from his point of view, we can better understand what he's going through and what his thoughts are. In the beginning of the movie he comes to the rationalization that he's trapped in a meaningless and depressing marriage. His wife (Annette Bening) shows more admiration in her career and affair with her boss than him and his daughter (Thora Birch) who basically hates them both because...well because she's a teenager. While attending a basketball half-time show to see his daughter cheerlead, Lester goes into a trance when he catches the eye of his daughter's friend Angela(Mena Suvari). The 42-year-old man immediately falls for this 18? 17? year old girl. That seemed to be the catalyst to Lester's transformation. He dreams about this girl day and night and for that reason turns into a completely different person. He stops worrying, and just starts living life to its fullest. His new goal is to get into the pants of his daughter's friend and start acting like he was when he was a teenager. While his new personality may make him happy, it's making the rest of his family miserable, which builds up to the great climax. This movie just isn't about the life of Lester though; it also digs deep into the emotions of the people living around him and next door, with everything coming together at the end. This is one of those films that is hard to review, one of those films that you can't really describe in words why you like it, only in words why you dislike it. Many of my friends didn't like this movie because they couldn't accept the protagonist as a pedophile. But the girl isn't exactly a youngin' or anything, and I think the majority of people could relate to Lester's hardships. This movie has just a little bit of nudity and probably one short sex scene. I don't see how it can really offend anybody THESE days unless you work for the Christian Science Monitor or something like that. Or maybe it's just the fact that Scary Movie has given me so much shock value that I've become immune. Anyway, I recommend this movie for anybody looking for a solid 2 hours of entertainment, with good acting and great cinematography. 10/10