A comic tale of a sad truth

Rating: 9/10 (1 September 2014)

It is truly a great movie.American Beauty focuses heavily on the notion that ups and downs are needed here. That thought is repeated again and again. But scene by scene, the film is full of its own brand of corrosive novelty, from the way Lester transforms himself in hopes of attracting the cheerleader to the revitalizing effects of Carolyn's acrobatic affair with a fellow real estate agent (a very smooth Peter Gallagher). As these characters struggle viciously -- and hilariously -- to escape the middle-class doldrums, the film also evinces a real and ever more stirring compassion. As it detects increasingly vital signs of life behind the absurd surfaces that Mr. Mendes presents so beautifully, the film takes on a gravity to match its evil zest. There's a haunting power to Lester's last narrative note to the viewer: that if you don't share the film's piercing vision of what really matters, someday you will.