An introspective, and honest look at the lives of "normal" people

Rating: 10/10 (24 July 2016)

The plot is, a middle-aged suburban father named Lester (Kevin Spacey) feels apathetic and depressed until falling in love with his daughter's best friend.
American Beauty is directed by Sam Mendes and written by creator of Six Feet Under, Alan Ball. And while the directing of the movie is impressive and not to be ignored, it's in the story and writing where American Beauty shines through as a modern classic.
Everything about this movie is great. The performances are all fantastic and make up one of the better ensemble casts I've seen. Everyone gets their moments to shine. The cinematography is well- done, almost always subtly doing something that is meant to communicate information about the characters. Whether that be a zoom to show two characters connecting, a red-colored object to show a characters feelings, or changing the size of something in the frame to show it's shifting importance. The score by Thomas Newman is absolutely fantastic, debatably his best score he's ever done. Its varied, fitting, unique, and very memorable.
Now for the star of the show, the screenplay. Virtually every single character is realistic, relatable, flawed, and likable. The best part about it is, despite being distinct and well-rounded characters, none of them are really unusual. I see people around me displaying these characteristics every day. There are points where a character will be describing their thoughts and feelings, and I will think "how does this movie know what I'm thinking?". There are points where the movie seems to know what I'm thinking by openly subverting my expectations for the story, without becoming stupid or unrealistic. This movie is able to capture the feelings and thoughts of a wide variety of people at vital points in their lives that anyone who has gone through them should be able to understand.
American Beauty is funny, dramatic, intelligent, original , and it's something of a crowdpleaser! I would highly recommend seeing American Beauty as soon as possible.