Best picture -- not!

Rating: 6/10 (3 August 2000)

Two specific things bothered me about American Beauty:
1. I don't like a movie where the obvious villain of the piece turns out to be the actual villain.
2. A piece of trash blowing in the wind makes for a poor symbol of unspoiled beauty.
In general, the movie works pretty well. Spacey is excellent, and so is Bening, in the role of one of the most believable but least likeable characters in recent movies.
But the point of the movie -- that modern American life is hopelessly meaningless, and that we all might as well give up, stayed drugged and mourn the passing of our youth -- is hardly a new message, and it's certainly not an accurate one.