this film has impacted me tremendously

Rating: 10/10 (11 April 2000)

as a movie, "american beauty" is incredibly well done. photography, score, acting - perfection. but that's not what i'm going to talk about. this film has impacted me in a way that no other has. it began an awakening within me that is still flourishing and growing over six months and seven viewings later. it has helped me realize that there are so many simple things that are magnificent, like watching a weeping willow sway in a cool breeze in may... the smell of fresh air... my grandfather, and how that one time he gave me the piece of advice i needed to hear the most... my friends, and how there's nothing more beautiful in the world than seeing them smile... all of these things that i'd really never appreciated as much as i should have... and there's so much more. i'm happy now. content with life, even though the circumstances with which i deal every day are straining - watching my mother suffer from being bedridden by multiple sclerosis, spending time in isolation, etc... and yet i couldn't be happier... i understand that not everyone likes this film, and i'm not saying that you should... but it has helped change my life, and for that, i can't praise it enough...