Total Oscar bait, but at least part of it's entertaining.

Rating: 5/10 (23 January 2015)

Kevin Spacey, for me, remains the most memorable thing about American BEAUTY. He has all the best lines, his character is the most interesting, and his midlife rebellion is genuinely funny. But that revolt is only the first half of the film. This movie isn't nearly the bastion of depth that it was when I was nineteen. The angst and twisted side of suburbia feels fake, on the nose. And that triteness is at its worst when we delve into Ricky's subplot. The flying bag is where the movie teeters on insufferable. Bentley's not the problem, he seems well-suited for the role (same for the rest of the cast). But there's an unmistakable smugness to the writing of this thing that ruins whatever beauty this story has.
5/10