The theme of the film is that people are not always what they appear to be.

Rating: Null/10 (31 July 2011)

American Beauty is a 1999 drama film directed by Sam Mendes and written by Alan Ball. The film stars Kevin Spacey as Lester Burnham and Annette Bening co-starring as Carolyn Burnham. The film also features Thora Birch as Jane, the daughter of Lester and Carolyn, Mena Suvari as Angela, Wes Bentley, Chris Cooper and Allison Janney are also featured in the film.
The film centers around Lester Burnham and his relationship with his wife, who is an over-achieving realtor who has drifted away from her husband, a non-existing relationship with his daughter, Jane, who he thinks hates him, and finally with Angela, his daughter's friend in which he is infatuated with. The film also delves into the relationship of the Burnham's new neighbors, Colonel Fits and his wife and son Ricky.
The theme of the film is that people are not always what they appear to be. For example Angela was a beautiful girl, Lester sees her as this sex symbol, yet in the end finds out that she is indeed a virgin. Colonel Fits runs a tight ship at home and wants everyone to conform to the way he sees things. He beats his son Ricky after he falsely admits to being gay. In the end it is revealed that in fact Colonel Fits is gay.
The film uses red rose petals as motifs several times throughout the film whenever Lester is thinking of Angela. The use of narration by Lester gives the audience an insight into what he was thinking and feeling. At the lowest point in Lester's life, his thoughts of Angela drove him to do things like buying and smoking marijuana, in efforts to relive portions of his childhood.
Another theme in the film would be that youth and beauty equates happiness. When Lester did things like lust after a teenage girl and smoke marijuana, he seemed happy. Ricky sees beauty in everyday life, videoing as much as he can for fear of missing it. He shows Jane what he considers the most beautiful thing he has filmed: a plastic bag, tossing in the wind in front of a wall. He says capturing the moment was when he realized that there was "an entire life behind things"; he feels that "sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it ... and my heart is going to cave in."