A witty, competent exercise, but one that is unlikely to linger.

Rating: Null/10 (8 February 2000)

An entertaining studio picture, but nothing more. Gloss and varnish substitute real emotional depth, and the dialogue, although bracing and witty, never really ascends to any great heights.
Spacey is mannered and eminently watchable, and often communicates a sense of character that the film itself refuses to convey. Both Annette Bening and the oft-overlooked Peter Gallacher also turn in fine performances.
The soundtrack is above par, but relies too often on pre-recorded songs.
The story is a standard rejection of modern American values of materialism and suburban soullessness, but says little on the matter that hasn't been said by better films before, notably Happiness, a far more compelling work which shares much in common with American Beauty, but packs a visceral punch that American Beauty is content to cast aside.
Ultimately, the film really fails to make any appreciable impact. The message, that one should not become ensconced in day to day ritual over the beauty of everyday life, is hardly an original one, and comes to us rather muddied by the characters' various interpretations of it. The Bentley character, in particular, who espouses this message most vocally, seems only capable of witnessing such beauty through a lens, living not in the moment, but after it.
A good film, but not an amazing one. Not the best and most sincere film that has been seen in a while, just the most majestically over-hyped.