Rating: 
Summary: American Beauty
Review: -This film is highly realistic, intense, sad and disturbing. Many people (parents and females) found this film very profound for it's 'family issues', 'nudity/ cursing' and 'views on suburban families'. Every family is dysfunctional in their own way. Some just hide their flaws better than others. This film proves it well. From a dad who wants his life back and a money hungry, cheating wife to teenagers who suffer from 'massive psychological damage' and closet-homosexual nutcases from the military who beat the hell out of their children; you don't know which one is more disturbing. Kevin Spacey plays as a middle-aged father who is unhappy in his marriage/ family life and he finds out the true meaning of life at the last minute; to have a good time.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful picture of the uneven road to suburban happiness
Review: This movie always fills me with a certain morbid pleasure that comes through remorse. It shows beautifully the bitterness and dissatisfaction that lies just below the surface of suburban life and sets a dark, heavy air that somehow feels complete and indulgent. It provides a contemplative atmosphere, an intense energy, and beautifully simple imagery. A bit depressing, but American Beauty always feels compltely satifying and somehow logical.
Rating: 
Summary: False, Contrived, Improbable, Ridiculous
Review: It is simply astonishing that so many people think "American Beauty" is a masterpiece. Why? Because every thing about the film is false, contrived, improbable, or ridiculous. One is tempted to leave one's critique at that and move on, but given the enormous number of people who have evidently been sent into raptures by this film, a dissenter is perhaps obligated to justify his position with illustrative examples of the film's many shortcomings. Here are a few that come immediately to mind: (1) Ricky's sadistic, homophobic father is - of course - an officer in the Marine Corps, is - of course - really homosexual himself, and is - of course - a crypto-Nazi. Good God! One can only imagine the agonies that Messrs. Ball and Mendes endured while conceiving that character; but I would guess that it took them many seconds - perhaps even a full minute - to dream up "Colonel Fitts, United States Marine Corps." This grotesque concoction of cliches reveals more than a simple failure of imagination; it also reveals that the filmmakers know very little about the kind of people they're trying to make a movie about. And it shows. None of the characters are remotely believable as human beings, or even as representative "types"; rather, every character in the film is an implausible mixture of the gruesome qualities the filmmakers mistakenly believe that kind of person should - indeed, must - possess, and verisimilitude can go hang. The result is a movie filled with characters so misconceived they aren't even caricatures; they're simply wrong. (2) Lester's solution to his predictable mid-life crisis is to extort additional severance pay from his employer by using the threat of a bogus same-sex harassment claim (as an aside to any viewer who might be inspired to try something similar - don't), begin buying dope from the kid next door, go to work in a fast-food burger joint, buy a replica of the muscle car he wanted to drive when he was in high school, spend his ample free time working out in his garage, and become sexually obsessed with his daughter's 17 year-old friend. Apparently, many people think all this nonsense is daring and innovative; Well, I hate to be the one to break the news, but it isn't. It is simply one unlikely plot contrivance piled on another in a failed attempt to breathe some life into a theme that has been absolutely done to death: a middle-age man's existential crisis provoked by his realization that he has squandered his youth in a meaningless job and a loveless marriage. This film's approach to this overworked theme, to have the angst-ridden forty-something hero actually try to turn back the clock and start over in his carefree, horny and stoned adolescence, is every bit as ridiculous as Kevin Spacey looks in his burger stand get-up. (3) To compensate for the lack of a coherent plot Messrs. Ball and Mendes resort to every tired device in the book to get from one scene to the next, including the ghastly music-video gimmick of hand-held video shots, liberal use of "artistic" dream sequences, and - God help us - "The Uncurtained Window." This last device is particularly revealing, because, as a general rule, one knows that the makers of a film have run out of ideas when they try to move things along by having one character peer through a wide-open window and fortuitously observe other characters engaged in activity crucial to the story (Hitchcock and a few other geniuses notwithstanding). And the climatic bit in which Ricky's father (the sadistic, Nazi-loving, gay-bashing gay Marine, remember?) observes Ricky and Lester apparently having it off is so ridiculous one can't even bother to condemn it. (4) Perhaps recognizing what a mess they had on their hands, the filmmakers attempt to salvage matters by tossing in a lump of half-hearted mysticism, the message of which is that the beauty of life is all around us (hence the title of the film - get it?), but the hopeless idiots who are condemned to live in suburbia don't notice this because they are too caught up in their petty concerns. I suppose that kind of sanctimonious, greeting card sentiment ("you'd better stop and smell the roses, Buster!", or, more accurately, "you'd better stop and watch the plastic bag blow in the breeze, Sport!") is considered profound stuff in "The Industry", but by any real-world standard it's condescending, simple-minded drivel. One could go on, but why bother? "American Beauty" is a perfect example of the Hollywood hype machine successfully manipulating the public into acclaiming its product. The formula is simple and well-established: if a film is said to be "profound" and "beautiful" and "important" often enough and loud enough, then the movie-going herd, er, public, will conclude that, yes, the film is profound, and beautiful, and important. However, in this particular case the emperor is quite, quite naked. Did I write that it's astonishing that so many people think this film is a masterpiece? I need to correct that: It's frightening.
Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece
Review: This Movie (American Beauty), deserved every award it received, and maybe even more. It tells the story of a "typical" suburban family, but shows the whole dark side of their life. Lester Burnham, played perfectly by Kevin Spacey, is a father and husband, and throughout the movie makes so many mistakes, which make us laugh, but in the end, it's all so emotional and you won't beleive what happens when it does. All I can say is... if you want to a true masterpiece, which only comes out every few years or so, American Beauty is a must-see on DVD, because the fatures are fantastic, also.
Rating: 
Summary: Very good film - the story has been told before, though
Review: This story has been done before. Hemingway's "Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" comes to mind. Certainly manicuring the lawn (or being a sports junkie, having affairs, seeking solace in therapies and spiritual groups, reliving your guitar playing youth at age 42) are symptoms rather than causes. They are symptoms of a life gone stale, attempts at salvaging meaning where it has been lost. This movie is all about people trying to find meaning in their lives. Most of us who are honest with ourselves can relate to that. Now the central question that many will ask is why does the meaning get lost? You may suggest it's out of neglect. But I suggest it's due to the natural course that relationships run, coupled with - and this is most important point - the guilt one feels and/or obligations one gets wrapped up in as a result of our patterning our lives after what our culture has brought us up to believe is the road to true happiness: a long-term, commited relationship. Most of us come to question this idea, see the folly of it. Whether it is folly is the springboard from which discussions about this film should arise. Certainly divorce rates are higher today simply because the stigma of getting divorced has been largely removed, not because people are any less happy in their marriages than they were when divorce was rare.
Rating: 
Summary: profound?!?!
Review: maybe - for a hallmark card or a pepsi commercial. it's eyecandy for emotional ...; .... people who like this movie are probably postmodernists, don't understand chess, and weep profusely with the slightest tinge of reality. this isn't dramam and there are no characters but sick people. it would only get one star, but it's better than magnolia.
Rating:
Summary: A refreshing combination of genres
Review: American Beauty is the first film in a LONG time that I think deserved the Best Picture Oscar. The film is a clever setup, with pissed off characters in a suburban setting, showing that suburbia is FAR less innocent than we may believe (or want) it to be. American Beauty is one of the only films with a beginning that REALLY pulls you in, that makes you want to see more. "Want me to kill him for ya?" "Yeah, would you?" That first glimpse into the film makes you wonder who this guy is that we're about to follow, during the final portion of his life. The images of roses, nudity, cleanliness, and the camcorder make this film very unique. It's one of the first films in a long time to have memorable symbolism. Watch this one with a group of friends, and talk about it afterwards.
Rating:
Summary: Spectacular!
Review: This film is so close to real life it's almost scary. The rush of emotions one feels when watching Lester Burnham (played to absolute perfection by Kevin Spacey) wander through his life like a suburban zombie is simply devastating. The film was directed by Sam Mendes is such a serene, crystal-clear and precise manner, I can't help but be reminded of the late, great Stanley Kubrick who had a way of making even the most disturbing ideas seem appealing with his use of slow rhythms, dramatic pauses and glaring white light. Annette Bening's Caroline is the perfect shrew, but that tough exterior merely masks her insecurities (witness her brilliant emotional breakdown alone in the den of horrible house she fails to sale. Slapping herself and screaming "shut up you baby" before slipping back into her role as the domineering control freak is fascinating!) The lucious Thora Birch also turns what could have been a one-note character (Janie) into a tour-de-force of of teen angst and isolation. When she finally succumbs to the charms of the quiet,curious and supremely secure boy next door Ricky Fitts (the superb and commanding Wes Bently) the kiss they share is the most tender and affectionate moment in the entire film. Ricky's speech about all the beauty in the world and the way it fills you up is also a classic. This film fills me up and satisfies on so many levels it's difficult to convey in a mere thousand words. I can only say that if you've ever found yourself in a rut, or felt emotionally paralyzed, "American Beauty" will hit close to home. This was a justified winner of the Oscar for best picture. This movie is simply about being human and saving yourself before it's too late.
Rating: 
Summary: See it, but don't believe it.
Review: Though it may not be a great film, American Beauty is quite a good movie and I recommend seeing it. It's lushly photographed and well acted. It has an entertaining and unpredictable plot. All this is true, but it may be the most manipulative film I have ever seen. It is as if American Beauty is taunting its audience, "I can make you see or feel anything thing I want! I can even make you believe you are being manipulated!" American Beauty is the Penn and Teller of movies: it's like an illusionist pretending to debunk illusionists. It will use you then intentionally make you feel used. Certainly, you should see and enjoy this film, and the DVD is well worth owning, but remember this: a roller coaster is not a bus and will not take you anyplace useful.
Rating:
Summary: wonderful Movie
Review: This film is very intriguing. IT's story is very creative, and it gives you something to think about... maybe we should all look a little closer. Kevin Spacey is a stand out as his character goes from a dumpy little guy to a bad mamma jamma. The DVD goodies are pretty good. It's got a little montage of stuff about the road to the oscars, and all that. The comentary is informing. Get the movie already.
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