The Ultimate Art House movie

Rating: 10/10 (4 December 2002)

Watch American Beauty again and look closer. It is less of a "film" and more of one of the most brilliant art "projects". It is essentially a montage of scenes that are self contained mini-essays on reflections about the American suburban experience and the collection creates a staggering whole. The pot-smoking scene outside the gym and the angry wife calling for Lester to go home; The video of the shopping bag floating in the air and how it opens up and creates a strong emotional connection between Ricky Fitts and Jane Burnham; Lester working out and checking himself in the reflection of the window is its own little montage about our obsession with "looking good", then the movie takes a wonderful twist and seamlessly moves to Ricky filming Lester and we have yet another montage about Ricky and his endless video taping.
This movie is definitely required viewing for any film or art student that wants to see modern movie techniques put to perfect use. All the characters in this movie will never be in a movie as great as this one, it is one of the master strokes of modern cinema.
One of the most ironic things about American Beauty is that it is viewed as a "mainstream" comedy-drama movie but it is far from that. If you watch the movie and pay attention to what the director is trying to accomplish in each scene you'll see it is far from "mainstream". I'm amazed Hollywood could produce such a radical movie and still gain nationwide acceptence. Definitely a breakthrough for modern cinema.