The Greatest Story Ever Told

Rating: 9/10 (2 October 2009)

Everyone has got one. For some people it is The Godfather, others it is Apocalypse Now, and for some it is 2001: A Space Odyssey. Regardless, everyone has got a favourite film. American Beauty just happens to be mine. I've seen this movie more times than any other, and every time I watch it I love it more and more. There is always something new to see and something new to learn from it, like life itself.
When whoever it was that quipped the now age-old adage 'they don't make them like that any more', they didn't account for American Beauty. It is without question a 'modern' classic, yet it seems to span the ages of cinema with such frightening ease that it could have easily been made 10, 20, 50 years ago. It takes all that is good about cinema and encapsulates it in 122 minutes.
It's so difficult to describe exactly what makes this my favourite film of all time, but I'll try. Every nuance, every idiosyncrasy, every scene, shot and sound blends so delicately and perfectly with the last and the next that you often forget you are watching a film. Suspension of disbelief doesn't even begin to describe what the viewer is subjected to on this remarkable journey of an unremarkable man, who just wants another chance to live life before it leaves him behind for good.
It's the myriad of human feelings, emotions and traits on show that make American Beauty what it is. It's tragic, hilarious, gut-wrenching, spine-tingling and awe-inspiring all at the same time. The characters are hewn of solid granite, so incredibly well developed and matured that you know at least two or three in real life. The direction is nothing short of majestic, the camera work sublime and the script is proof of the theory that at times, life imitates art.
There is no point in describing what happens during the running time, because to be perfectly honest, it's been done a hundred times on these boards. What I will say though is that this film may well leave you asking a thousand questions of yourself and others after watching it, and on the flip side, many questions you had already asked are answered. It is a film about the human condition, the human spirit and human endeavour. It works on levels that 99% of other films cannot even begin to aspire to. If you haven't yet had the pleasure of watching it yet, I implore you to do so today - you certainly wont regret it.
I'm rating this movie at 9.4 / 10 - the highest rating I have ever given to any film. Spellbinding, devastating stuff.