One of the most overrated movies in recent years.

Rating: Null/10 (30 October 2000)

Every few years a film comes along that both critics and the moviegoing public just fall for completely and rakes in a ton of money...a few years ago it was 'Forrest Gump', now it's 'American Beauty'.
'American Beauty' is art-house light, a film that was unquestionably crafted from the moment the first words of the script were typed to be an 'important' film. Nothing was left out - you've got your drug use, homosexuality, infidelity, voyeurism - 'American Beauty' has got it all. It goes without saying to really explore each of these things with their relation to the human condition in *one* film would result in the longest movie since 'The Ten Commandments'. So the makers of 'American Beauty' didn't even bother; its all there on the surface in the name of being provocative.
Now thats only one problem with the film. And it could be forgiven, assuming the movie was otherwise effective. Unfortunately, the director of 'American Beauty' found it prudent to juxtapose Kevin Spacey's earnest voiceovers and Thora Birch's adolescent angst with hallucinatory interludes - the rose petals, the name in the lawn on fire. As the movie progresses these scenes slowly sap whatever feeling of reality the film had to the point where it loses its punch entirely - to put it bluntly, the final scene could have been replaced in whole and replaced with Kevin Spacey waking up a from a dream, and the film wouldn't have missed a beat.