worth seeing!

Rating: 7/10 (26 January 2010)

Every time I see a plastic bag, flying through the air, I have to think about this film, "American Beauty". Although I wouldn't say it's one of the greatest films I've ever seen, it left its marks on me.
The story about an ordinary American family in an ordinary American suburb with ordinary American jobs, whose whole life turns upside down, when the father, Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), falls in love with the beautiful friend (Mena Suvari) of his daughter Jane (Thora Birch), therefore recognizes his rotten life and tries to change it, plays with the idea of the American Dream and uncovers its unreality.
When Lester masturbates in the shower (and the marital bed!), when his wife Carolyn (Annette Bening) totally freaks out, because she's not able to sell a house (real estate!) and their daughter Janes only problem is how to get enough money for a boob job, everyone starts to think about the "behind the scenes" of every all-so-lovely, perfect, suburban family. This is probably what director Sam Mendes intention was, when he exaggerated both camera work and dialogs. Because when the neighbors's boy Ricky (Wes Bentley) starts to philosophise about the beauty of a plastic bag dancing with the wind, it's on the edge between craziness and truth. But by using this concept for the whole film Mendes created a worth seeing spectacle, fitting every film evening.