Rating: 
Summary: HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE THIS MOVE?!
Review: The characters in this movie are just so multi-faced, creative, and have magnetic personalities. Lester just has an incredible look on life, and a great personality. The actors in this movie were obviously the creme-de-la-creme since they can cause such emotion in person like me. Annette Benning's character makes me have such rejection towards her and her personality. I feel so sorry for Lester in the movie, his wife couldn't care less about him, and she is also cheating on him. His daughter can't stand him and feels he is an idiot. Then he finally realizes that after all of his downhill happenings he actually feels good about himself, and then he dies. The montage after he was shot was the most moving scene for me in the movie. It went from his most fond memories of life, and the things most important to him while all the time showing the emotion and reaction of his friends and family towards his death. This movie deserved every applause or good review. It is by far my favorite movie of all time, for some reason I am always drawn to it when I feel like watching a DVD. The emotions and the dull life of this one man are just so entertaining, and never get tiring. I recommend this to anyone and everyone.
Rating:
Summary: If I could give this 10 stars I would!!!
Review: I have seen this movie about 20 times and I never get fed up with it. Kevin Spacey is fabulous in this in fact everyone in it is great.I think a lot of people who watch this will find it very fascinating and educational...
Rating:
Summary: Epitome of Classic
Review: This movie sends a call to all those watching, saying, "Wake up!". It seems that most of the people that love this movie can also appreciate the profoundness of life. Who else could *possibly* have played this role other than Spacey?? This was his movie. Personally, the passion I hold for this movie is phenomenal.
Rating:
Summary: a Cinematic Classic
Review: This is one of the greatest movies ever made. First there's the brilliant performance by Spacey
...Look closer...
Then there is the supporting cast
...Look closer...
Then there is the incredible screenplay and hilarious humor
...Look closer...
Then there is the astounding directorial debut by Sam Mendes.
All in all a great movie that will remain in my mind for years to come.
Rating:
Summary: Sorry folks, but the truth does hurt...
Review: American Beauty is the unfortunate epitome of life in many suburban families. A bunch of middle-class individuals worshiping the almighty dollar instead of worrying about family stability and moral values. Foolishly thinking that once they have moved out of the city and have achieved a certain tax bracket, that all of life's problems will evaporate. Just watch the evening news or read the newspaper...or look around most neighborhoods. The families in American Beauty are not the stretched imagination of some Hollywood writer...those characters are based on what anyone can see, any day of the week. A narrow-minded homophobic father who berates his only child every chance he gets - driving the kid to the very edge. A miserable middle-aged man discontent with his job and his marriage - seeking affection from young girls to recapture his lost youth. A middle-aged woman obsessed with money and status -seeking physical gratification as a substitute for other disappointments in life. Who, with any good sense can still say that American Beauty is a Hollywood farce? The characters in this movie were desperate to find something, anything to fill their voids. How many people make all the right decisions for all the wrong reasons? The cast of American Beauty and Sam Mendes deserve all the accolades that were bestowed upon them (and more). Hey, wake up...the truth does hurt - but sometimes pain has to precede the healing process. American Beauty is worth a watch, with an open-mind (Spacey never disappoints).
Rating:
Summary: THE BEST DARN MOVIE SINCE "ACE VENTURA - WHEN NATURE CALLS!"
Review: I laughed, I cried, then I laughed and cried again.
Rating: 
Summary: Pointless piece of junk
Review: This [junk] beat out The Cider House Rules,The Sixth Sense, Snow Falling On Cedars and The Green Mile? American Beauty is the pointless tale of a man going through a midlife crisis who gets killed at the end. Everyone in the movie is boring and unhappy and this movie has ABSOLUTELY NO POINT AT ALL.
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece of modern cinema!
Review: A lot has been said about this film, and I am sure you have heard it all, so I won't put you through yet another review of the film's story. What I would like to say, though, is that I enjoyed it because of how honest it is, and because the actors all do give stand-out performances. It's a great ensemble cast!!! Personally, I especially liked the scenes with Wes Bentley and Thora Birch, who win my prize for odd couple of the year ...! It really is no wonder the movie received countless awards, seeing as how perfectly it captures truth and illusion of our everyday lives.
Rating:
Summary: An observation on the perception of our existence
Review: This is one of my favourites... Looking at things below the surface, perceptions on how things can be different to how they appear... almost too perfect.
Rating: 
Summary: Provocative tale of life in the suburbs
Review: Kevin Spacey plays a sexually frustrated, suburban, male head of household who's fed up with his career and chucks it. His wife is a hypocritical, bitchy career woman with no sexual interest in her husband. We have the teenage daughter caught in the crossfire and the power struggles. And then there are the wacky neighbors! Everybody acts out, and there you have the movie! It should have been named American Tragedy, but Hollywood likes to lighten things up. They don't like things to get too serious, lest anyone actually learn something. I thought the moviemakers took some typical American issues, like violence, infidelity, and a few others and brought them together. The moviemakers took the essential drama of these things and made everything else ice-cream parlor suburban. They didn't show any of the filthy side garbage that actually goes along with this kind of thing in reality. Lester and Carolyn Burnam have a teenage daughter named Jane. A new family, the Fitts, moves in next door. Mr. Fitts is a Colonel in the United States Marine Corp. His son, Ricky Fitts is in high school with Jane. Colonel Fitts wife, Barbara, is a basket case. Jane knows about Ricky from the rumor mill. He used to go to school with them but was sent away to an institution. The movie made me laugh my ass off. I couldn't take it seriously, like most people did. Few people that I have spoken too took it as a comedy. Although the Lester Burnham is hilarious, that's all there is to him. His phony wife is as superficial as the business suites she wears. Her method of dealing with a serious emotional issue is to chant slogans learned at a sales seminar at a Holiday Inn. She (played by Annette Benning) is so empty and absurd you have to laugh at her. Mother and father had no depth at all. However, the acting of Kevin Spacey, who played Lester Burnham, was outstanding, a "10." His acting pulled the whole movie to a higher level. All of the characters were well balanced, although the moviemakers should have spent more time expounding on the character of Thora. I felt she was essential to understanding the movie. I felt the marine colonel who lived next door was almost real. The character was obviously created by an insightful, gay screen-writer with a sharp politically-correct ax to grind. For what little time he spent on screen, the character had showed much more depth than the other two adults. The only thing I'm skeptical about is that he was so extreme, I'm not even sure if the Marine Corp would put up with him these days. Angela, an aspiring model and girl friend of Jane's is a whole pick-up truck full of insecurities and inside-out values. You can see plenty of girls like her every day on the daytime talk shows. She's utterly pathetic. Ricky, the high school kid next door is a sicko of the first order. Think Colombine High School. He's become a tremendous financial success selling drugs. Initially I felt anxiety about the relationship between Lester Burnam and Ricky, but ended up thinking it was healthy for the both of them, except for the drugs, of course. The real characters in the movie were the daughter, Thora, and the kid next door, Ricky. The daughter had a fair dose of intelligence and common sense and pretty good emotional maturity for a girl of her age. She was introspective and sized up other people very well, her parents, her girl friend and Ricky. She knew she needed her parents to be parents. Psychologically, she was quite robust and healthy. She will survive and thrive, despite her knucklehead parents. Ricky, the high school kid next door was real. He was very intelligent, very talented and had a good personality. I don't think most viewers realize what a wonderful person he could have grown up to be, had things been otherwise. In the future, he could have been a successful professional in any field he chose. I can easily imagine him selling corporations instead of drugs. The problem was that psychologically, he was damaged beyond repair by his sado-masochistic, homosexual, homophobic father. Ricky is the real tragedy of the movie. Thora and Ricky symbolize American society, she the healthy part, he the dysfunctional. And together they go off, hand-in-hand-our future.
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