Rating: 
Summary: Why do people glorify this film?
Review: I admit, it's not the worst film I've ever seen, but it's not the greatest, either. When people glorify this film and the messages contained in it, I worry. I'd like to know what goes on subconsciously in people's mind when they praise this film to the sky. Perhaps they see their own reflection in the characters of this movie? I'd really like to know.
Rating:
Summary: 1999's Best Picture? Well, it probably doesn't mean anything
Review: In my opinion, the script and the overall theme of this movie are so flawed and questionable that it really should NOT have got the Oscar. If this movie had been released in 2000, I'm sure it wouldn't get so many awards. There really weren't that many good films in 1999, and that's why this movie received so much undeserved attention in that pathetic year. "Boys Don't Cry", another film from 1999, is also extremely questionable, but at least it has some real "meaning" or "message" which is presentable. I can't say the same for "American Beauty." In comparison with Boys Don't Cry, American Beauty is empty and superficial, without true substance. I guess we were fortunate in 2000 to have so many real gems in the cinema. "Quills" and "Traffic", like "American Beauty", were meant to be disturbing, but they were much more substantial than AB; "Chocolat" and "Gladiator" were great entertainment, which AB was not. 1999, a sad year for movie lovers.
Rating:
Summary: 5 Academy Awards?! Including BEST PICTURE?!
Review: A friend of mine asked me to watch this video with her. Because I had not seen it, I wanted to look at some reviews to decide whether I wanted to spend two hours watching the film. "Wow, Best Picture! 5 Academy Awards!", and I saw that it earned an average 4-star rating from 728 reviewers! "This must be a great film", I thought. Another stupid mistake I make. It's just another unoriginal and pretentious film that wants to be "profound." You can't possibly care about the unrealistic and unconvincing characters in this film, not because they're imperfect but because they are merely stereotypes that you should have seen before in dozens of other movies. Unless you've watched and seen very little TV or few movies, it's unlikely that this one will impress you. EVERY issue addressed in this movie has been exploited and explored deeper and better by others. You won't find any fresh ideas or better treatment of old ideas here. Are you looking for spiritual or intellectual stuff here? You won't find anything genuine. (Here they're either nonexistent or stupidly simple-minded.) What about entertainment value? Zero. You want a feel-good movie? This is not. Simply put, this film is a total waste of time. It's entirely pointless, nothing but all hype, all ridiculous and hackneyed nonsense.
Rating: 
Summary: The Best Film of 1999, Maybe the Best Film of the Decade
Review: There has been a lot of hype written about this movie, and a lot of misunderstanding. THIS FILM IS NOT A COMEDY. It is not about suburbia. What it is about is the landscape of human passion. Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is "already dead" and he knows it. Then one day he meets the 17-year-old friend of his daughter, and Lester Burnham begins to wake up. Lester is stunned by the young woman (Mena Suvari), and lusts after her. This is the first of many points in the movie that are misleading if taken too literally. This movie is not about a middle-aged man lusting after a 17-year old girl, it is about a middle-aged man reconnecting with the passion he once felt. Suvari's character is the stalking horse for Lester's passion. Lester reconnects with his own passion for life by first feeling this sexual desire for a girl who is forbidden to him. But it doesn't end there. Eventually Lester develops, or redevelops, into a man filled with passion and love, and an almost Zen-like desire to see others fulfilled. Later in the film when Lester confronts his wife Caroline (Annette Bening) in a situation where Lester has been wronged and could really be angry with her, he says, "it's ok, Caroline, I want you to be happy." In the end, Lester comes full circle and even the situation with Suvari's character changes. American Beauty is chock full of excellent performances by the cast. There is a lot to this movie, and it lends itself well to multiple viewings on DVD. I've seen American Beauty three times in the theater and countless times on DVD--I still get something new out of each viewing. The DVD itself has a moderate number of extras (the Awards Edition), more than you'd find on a regular DVD, but not as many as say the Fight Club DVD which could only be described as loaded. The only thing I found a bit irritating was that the movie was already a success by the time some of the DVD extras got added. This slightly changes the perspective of the people involved. But this is a minor complaint. American Beauty is indeed a masterpiece.
Rating: 
Summary: overhyped, forgettable star vehicle
Review: Basically, this movie is of the kind that the critics told us we were supposed to love because Big Media wanted another excuse to fawn over Spacey, Bening, and "discovery" Suvari. American Beauty is an occasionally pretty movie, but the story is just stupid and pointless, the characters are uniformly unlikable (either big jerks or shrinking wimps), and the sloooooooow directing is definitely a love-it-or-hate-it style. (I hated it.) Definitely a rental.
Rating:
Summary: the beauty of this movie
Review: I would have given this amazing film 10 stars if I could, but 5 was the best I could do. This movie earned every award it won and those it didn't. I often don't agree with the films that win awards, but this one was truly the best film of not all the year but of all time, well close. The story is orignal, the writing is fresh, hip and redefines screenplays, the acting is the best around, and the movie is a masterpiece. The film revolves around an all-American family living in the 90s in white suburbia. From the outside their lives look normal but look closer and you will find things are anything but normal. Kevin Spacey leads an all star cast in the performance that won him an Oscar. He plays a father and husband who is sick of the fake life he's been leading, so he quits his job, begins working out, smoking pot, and most importantly he begins living. This sets a whirlwind of events into action that will leave you breathless and will make you look closer at your own life. What I love about this movie is the honest that is has and power it uses to light up the true world we live in. The movie is funny, sad, depressing and life altering. Other stand out performances include, Annette Bening as Spacey's overly joyless wife and Thora Birch as thier unhappy daughter, who ends up being the most normal. You'll love this awesome movie and if you don't you will at least learn from it, if you let yourself.
Rating:
Summary: The best best picture winner I have seen in a while.
Review: The acedemy finally got it right in 1999 with this satirical masterpiece. Everything from the casting (Spacy and Benning are superb) to the cinematography is all grade A. I also loved the score with it's strong and depressing tones. The DVD does the film justice. The video tranfer is one of the cleanest I have seen. The colors look so vibrant! The audio is exceptional as well. As far as the extras go, this dvd is packed. Everything you could possibly want is here and then some.
Rating:
Summary: Overrated and dismal
Review: The film is really nothing more than a bizzare portrayal of what happens when you mix self-absorbed people who let ordinary evil rule their lives with people who are just plain nuts. None of the characters are likable, and I found myself really not caring what happened to any of them by the end. Why this got such critical acclaim is beyond me- I don't know whether we're supposed to believe this sort of thing happens in America every day (if we're really that far gone, we are in deep trouble) or if this is just supposed to be a black satire of social issues like family dynamics, drugs, and sexuality (if it is, it's not funny).
Rating: 
Summary: Striking but not perfect
Review: You've read all the rave reviews and they are all justified-but there were a few things that bothered me about American beauty. People often characterize Lester Burnham, the protaganist, as Everyman. However, the Burnham family is far wealthier than the average family in reality. In addition, giving the family a generic name like Burnham and neglecting to show a single non-white face shows complete ignorance of what America is actually like. I mean, take away the pot smoking and fornication and it could be a Leave it to Beaver remake. I did think that American Beauty was a provacative, daring film and I loved it, but I also think that the makers are trying to appeal to no one so much as the self-styled Lester Burnhams in the audience; middle-aged, upper middle class white men who sold their souls for their careers and now want to have their cake and eat it too. Ricky Fitts, the sensitive drug dealer, is a brilliant character and it's hard not to swoon over him but when push comes to shove, his pursuit of Jane sends the message that when girls say "Leave me alone", they mean "videotape me stripping for you". Angela is another inspired character who seems full of suprises but is basically the personification of the stereotypical self-centered tease who's all talk. The one thing I cannot find fault with is the performances, with the possibility of Peter Gallagher whose tremendous eyebrows distract the viewer a bit. All in all, American Beauty is a thought-provoking movie that everyone should see, but think before you decide what you believe and who you admire.
Rating:
Summary: Profound Filmmaking
Review: Hands down one of the most profound and strikingly original movies to be released in the last decade, AMERICAN BEAUTY gives the audiences a glimpse into the everyday life of your 'average' American family--suffice it to say, you're a LONG way from the Brady Bunch here. Kevin Spacey justifies his Oscar win as the films male parental unit, Lester Burnham, basically a going nowhere fortysomething who's lost all interest in life, including the part that his marriage occupies. Annette Bening gives her finest performance to date(and highly underrated) as his seemingly perky real estate agent wife Carolyn. Bening gravitates between happy and pathetic, usually in the same scene, and does so with the slightest of ease. Thora Birch, a long way from her days as a child actress, gives a sterling performance as Jane, Lester and Carolyn's daughter who is completely frustrated with the "lameness" with which her parents lead their life. She's also appalled at the way with which her horny father gawks at her best friend Angela. She's played by Mena Suvari, in possibly the film's most revelatory performance, as Suvari goes far deeper than most would into what makes this usually token jailbait character tick, and comes out with a completely fleshed out portrait of a very insecure young girl. Also playing the gawking game,with better results, is Wes Bentley, who plays Rickey, the Burnham's cleverly sly drug dealer neighbor, and the pursuer of their daughter's affections. Rounding the acting ensemble is Chris Cooper, who plays Rickey's dad(and who has some very deep-rooted secrets) and Allison Janney, that rare actress who never fails to bring anything less than an indelible impression to even the smallest of roles, as Rickey's mother. The story is utterly thought-provoking--this is that rare movie that lives so much better beyond the hype that surrounded it. It was completely warranted.
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