Better than SportsCenter ;-)

Rating: 9/10 (28 September 1999)

I watch movies all the time. I love them. When I have nothing to do, and nobody is around, it's pretty much all I do. I have a huge movie collection, of about 200 movies, and I watch them all the time. They are all great movies, but very few, if any of them, are on the same level as 'American Beauty.' Seldom do I find a movie that not only captivates my interest on several levels, but also leaves me motionless in the theater watching the credits in awe when it's done.
Kevin Spacey gives the performance of his career, and that's saying a lot because he is such a talented actor. He plays the role of Lester Burnham, who lives the "perfect" life in your typical suburb in middle America. But that's so njot true. Spacey calls himself a "loser," and as he takes us through his "perfect" life we see what is really beind this sharade of a perfect family. A controlling, obsessive-compulsive wife, and a daughter who hates both her parents.
Spacey is going through his "mis-life crisis"..... he quits his job, extorts money from his boss, all the time freeing himslef from this cage in whihc he had been living for years. He just doesn't care what he says or does anymore. I found myself is awe while watching this movie, thinking to myself "Please, I don't want that to happen to me.
I rarely find a movie I like more than my favorite (Good Will Hunting). And I rarely find something I'd rather do that watch SportsCenter, but 'American Beauty' is a wonderful movie, and I'm going to see it manymore times. (Yes, it's better than SportsCenter). If you don't see it, you're missing out.