Tradegy and Beauty mixed into one great piece of art

Rating: 9/10 (2 January 2006)

American Beauty. These words symbolize the movie. It is about an American who finds divine beauty in his life and the world.
The story starts off with Lester Birmingham narrating his pathetic life. The audience immediately fins out that he is a loser. (He even admits it.) Lester may cause the audience to feel embarrassed about watching it, during the first few minutes. He has to be one of the worst parents out there. He appears absolutely pathetic when he falls in love with his daughter's friend.
So, here we have a pathetic excuse for a father, who is in love with a girl at least 10 years younger than him. His life becomes even worse when he loses his job, and his wife pretty much leaves him. So, Lester kind of turns his life around when he is introduced to Ricky Fits. Ricky sells him drugs, and teaches him how to govern his own life.
The real drama starts when Lester's life affects everybody else. At this point, the film is no longer about Lester, but about the people in his life, and what is happening to them. Everybody becomes depressed, but they all find out how beautiful life can really be. This section of the film is probably the most dramatic, and the most moving.
The characters are realistic, (except for Ricky) and the film seems to be almost poetic. It truly brings out the human emotions, and shows the good and ugly side of human nature. It shows the struggles, battles and insecurity taking place in all of our hearts.
However, the film seems to be a bit too perverted for some. How many moments of nudity are there? More than enough. The message seems to be a bit unfitting for the film, too. Tragedy and beauty mix together, but not in a good way, during some scenes.
I really enjoyed American Beauty, but I thought it could have been better.
9/10
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