Best Picture in a year of outstanding films

Rating: 9/10 (6 December 1999)

After the last couple of years, I hardly expected 1999 to be as wonderful as it has been cinema-wise. Between the imagery and style of The Matrix to the gritty idealism found in Fight Club, not to mention several other films, I was sure that it couldn't get any better. I was wrong.
American Beauty is such an immense and captivating film, the type where after you leave the theater, nothing from the movie felt awkward, no portion was unnecessary or gaudy. I found myself just as intrigued watching it the second time as I did the first. Kevin Spacey has proven beyond any reasonable doubt that he is one of the best actors America has to offer, if not THE best. Although famed for his turns in Seven and The Usual Suspects, playing downright nasty villains, American Beauty shows that he can truly make an audience sympathize and pull for him as he portrays Lester Burnham.

Meanwhile, Annette Bening should also easily be up for an Oscar. I was amazed at how much she could make me hate her character, Carolyn Burnham, the perfectionist mother who is obviously frustrated with her lack of ability to apply her finishing touches on her husband and daughter. Bening is blissfully oblivious as to how far apart her and her daughter have drifted.
Every character in the small cast performs flawlessly, including newcomer Wes Bentley, who plays the camcorder-obsessed Ricky Fitts. Mena Suvari's portrayal of Angela Hayes, Lester's salvation that turns out to be, in a way, an illusion to him was much more enjoyable then her choir-girl outing in American Pie.
This movie impacted me so quickly that without hesitation I would easily consider it as one of my 5 favorite movies of all time. This movie is flawless in its execution, and as Ricky would point out, beautiful in so many ways. 10 all the way.