It's hard to stay mad when there is so much beauty in this world

Rating: 9/10 (4 February 2011)

"American Beauty" is easily one of the best movies I have seen. The movie begins with a girl(Thora Birch) being caught on videotape requesting an unseen person to murder her father. The father is later revealed to be one Lester Burnham(Kevin Spacey), who, on the outside, looks like your average suburban family man. In reality though, he is into 20 years of a loveless marriage and considered, in his own words, a "gigantic loser" by both his wife & daughter. He works in an advertising agency which has, at the point where this movie begins, decided to lay him off. His wife Carolyn(Annette Benning) runs a freelance real estate business which is not doing well. She is a woman possessed of misguided notions, constantly chanting self-help mantras to herself, which does nothing to better her state of mind.
One day, when he goes to see his daughter Jane's performance as a cheerleader, he notices her friend Angela Hayes(Mena Suvari) & starts lusting after her. The turning point comes when he meets Ricky Fits(Wes Bentley), the abused son of his new neighbour Col.Frank Fits(Chris Cooper), at a party and is surprised by his fearlessness and complete self confidence. He gets the idea that he can regain the voice he lost in his household and that Angela is attainable. This starts a series of events which ultimately results in Lester's death.
The tag line "Look Closer" has plenty of meaning. Just like Lester, every one of us have been & probably still are unsure of what we really want in life & just like all the characters in this movie, we try to hide our real selves & project this false public image(Angela stands as a case in point). Thus,everything is not as it seems to be. I was able to identify a lot with this movie and its characters personally because I too have been lost, insecure and unsuccessful.
As far as acting goes, Wes Bentley is, surprisingly, the one who truly stands out. While Kevin Spacey's performance is better, Ricky's presence can be felt at the very heart of the movie in a similar way to Samuel L Jackson's Jules Sinnfield. Even The women, Thora Birch, Annette Benning & Mena Suvari do excellent jobs of making their characters solid and distinguishable. Even Chris Cooper as Frank Fits pulls a surprise act in the film's climax.
Overall, having seen this movie twice, I can safely say that this is one of the best I've seen & deserved every award it got
My rating-9/10