Quite possibly the greatest film of the '90s

Rating: 10/10 (24 September 1999)

Sam Mendes' American Beauty is the most auspicious directorial debut since, well, Citizen Kane. American Beauty is a sprawling, kaleidoscopic masterpiece of a film. It's not flawless, it has more than few quirks (Spacey's contradictory alcohol abuse/physical fitness obsession, for instance), but in the end, none of them matter. The virtuosity of Mendes' direction is totally captivating: this is one of those rare films where every camera angle and movement seem to be completely perfect.
Furthermore, Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening give the performances of their careers. Spacey's work is utterly spectacular. He steals every scene he appears in as he adroitly shifts from self-loathing loser to ecstatic rebel. This is the film he will be remembered for. Bening is superb as a self-absorbed, power-obsessed real estate agent. Chris Cooper is also excellent in a role he seems to have been typecast for, the apopleptic and abusive father.
The film has an excellent pace, wonderful cinematography, and the most powerful use of visual metaphor in recent memory. It's better than GoodFellas, better than Pulp Fiction, better than Schindler's List, better than The Shawshank Redemption, and better than Life is Beautiful. And come Oscar time, when The Green Mile beats it out in every category, I'm sure I'll be screaming my lungs out at the television set.