A beautiful movie

Rating: 10/10 (31 January 2000)

American Beauty is not about one person (Lester Burnham) - it's about everyone. We're all represented in one of the main characters - Lester represents midlife, his wife (Carolyn) represents ambition, his daughter (Jane) represents youth and his neighbours (Ricky and Colonel Fitts) represent wisdom and repression respectively. It's typical of this film that the wise character is a teenage boy (Ricky) rather than a wise old man. It's certainly *not* about a mid-life crisis - that's simply a vehicle to get a few laughs. Lester's condition is terminal - and not some short-term crisis.
The acting is uniformly superb but it's the direction and cinematography that really shine. This film is visually stunning. If there's a weakness it's the storyline. Really great films (like The Shawshank Redemption) have great stories to tell - and this movie doesn't... because the story is known to us all - most people are unhappy. But it's not a glum film. The movie's real message is that we don't have to be unhappy - the world is beautiful - the tagline should have been "smell the roses".
I like the movie more today than I did last night and I think I'll like it even more when I see it again. The two hours passed in a flash and I will watch it again and queue to buy the DVD when it's released. So it's a great film. But not flawless. I gave it 9 out of 10.
I'm not sure if a young audience could relate to this movie since it deals with mature themes (relationships, happiness etc.). But as a middle aged man who works out and has recently taken up smoking, I certainly could. Just as well I never look at my daughter's friends when they visit. ;-)