Negative review by Suburban family man

Rating: Null/10 (14 November 2000)

I'm a middle aged, middle class, married suburban man with a one child, a daughter and a working wife similar to the family depicted in the movie. I am truly familiar with the material in this movie. In contrast to others, I didn't like the movie much. It is basically rehash of Ordinary People(1981), Ice Storm and other movies commenting on suburban family lifestyle. By now, we know that this lifestyle is not without problems. While those older movies broke some ground, American Beauty has many one-dimensional characters, especially the military homophobic neighbor. While the acting is generally good, there is much missing information about these superficial characters. How did the wife get so cold? Does the daughter *really* want the Dad dead? Is the next door boy really dangerously crazy or not? Why has it taken the father so long to react to his situation? Why does Spacey's middle-aged crisis or epiphany have to involve being rude to everybody? There was also no need for him to be killed in this movie. It served no purpose other than to help the film-makers avoid getting deeper into the character development and plot. Surprisingly, the most interesting character is the teenage rose-petaled girlfriend who eventually shows a vulnerable side. A better movie on this whole topic would be Happiness. I rate American Beauty 5 rose petals out of a possible 10.