For anyone who has ever wondered what the future might hold or questioned what could have been.

Rating: 10/10 (31 December 2015)

Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), 42, has spent years trapped in an unhappy marriage and an unsatisfying job. His relationship with his teenage daughter Jane (Thora Birch) is almost as strained as that with his career-driven realtor wife Carolyn (Annette Bening). When Lester becomes infatuated with his daughter's friend Angela (Mena Suvari), it marks the beginning of a severe mid-life crisis that sees him revisiting the carefree ways of his youth, but at a cost.
Full of heart-rending pathos, yet told with an irresistible streak of dark humour, American Beauty is a thoroughly absorbing bittersweet drama, a poignant tale that peels back the layers of suburban life to reveal the pains of growing up and the disappointments of growing old. The big-screen debut of director Sam Mendes, the film boasts superb performances from an incredible ensemble cast (Spacey is particularly great, but no-one puts a foot wrong), excellent cinematography, and wonderful music (both score and soundtrack).
10/10: one of the finest films of the 90s and well deserving of its five Oscars.