This film is a fraud...

Rating: 1/10 (4 June 2001)

"American Beauty" is excessively praised as a great piece of American film, when in reality it isn't even good enough to be a decent rip-off of better films. Unfortunately, many viewers have fallen for it. ("Moonspinner55" and "tubist38" have good reviews. Note that one person who initially praised the film reviewed it again a year later and said, "What was I thinking?") Mendes wastes some excellent actors in these meatball scenes (for example, Spacey throwing the asparagus...who couldn't do that well?) A lot of this film is some snappy one-liners or clever scenes strung together with...nothing. Everything that happens is almost laughably predictable. And the crucial scene, where an empty plastic bag blowing in the wind is supposed to impart some deep meaning on the true nature of existence in the phenomenal world? Right. Finally, I must comment on Annette Bening, who is one of the better actresses working today being cast in the role of a cartoon...what a waste.
This film is a "1," and should in fact have a turkey symbol next to it. "American Beauty" is the perfect symbol of the decline of the serious American film. "Ordinary People," "Out of the Blue," and "The Sweet Hereafter" are much better films.