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Summary: Probably the most astonishing thing
Review: about this film is either a) its openness to, or maybe naked appropriation of, the gestures and preoccupations of avant-garde film or b) the fact that you could view American Beauty as the most expensive piece of teen porn produced in 1999. Not only do you get the nice visual haiku of the spinning trash, which halts all narrative motion--a sin in Hollywood film--but the director actually exploits both young girls. Stripping two teens is a B picture coup if I've ever seen one (no different, I'm sure, than sitting through a screening of "Masked Avenger Vs. Ultra Villain in the Lair of the Naked Bikini," also released in 99). So you get both, high art and low. Of course the high art moment is rendered with garbage and the trash-movie scenes are accomplished through use of the nude. Go figure. This is postmodernism, after all.
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Summary: Kevin Spacey,..the actor's actor
Review: Wonderful,..Kevin Spacey is amazing,...while a few people didnt like it I must say that this is amongst his best performances ever,...and I have seen the Usual Suspects,....
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Summary: Never Underestimate the Power of Denial
Review: On first viewing, I knew absolutely nothing about this film. I am glad for that. This is one of those movies that draws one into a journey filled with unexpected twists and turns. I understand that this was Alan Ball's first film script. Most impressive.Kevin Spacey plays Lester Burnham and is the anchor of the story. However, all of the other central characters are extremely well-developed--and terribly interesting. It might be a bit cynical, but there seem to be quite a number of people who can actually identify with the story and characters. Not the typical "feel-good" movie, to be sure. But it is a compelling one. The performances are likewise deep and true. The bottom line is that I cannot say enough good things about this film. In fact, even though I own the DVD, whenever a cable network airs it, I find myself watching. I always find something new. Get this one. If you like movies, you'll love it.
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Summary: Okay movie on an okay DVD
Review: I didn't read all 600+ reviews for American Beauty listed on the Amazon site, but a cursory look gives me the impression that people get very polarised over this movie, and I can't understand why. Is it an art movie? Not really. But it's as close as a Hollywood movie is likely to get, I suppose. The acting is superb, but the characters are very two-dimensional. Surprisingly, the most realistic character (to me) was the "Beauty" herself, Angela, who, as the object of male fantasies, would normally be the most two-dimensional. So, while I enjoyed the movie, I don't care to watch it over and over. It is dark, but heartwarming in its way, and parts are very funny as well. The DVD additives are also only okay. There is a director's commentary (the writer also is on the track, but says very little), but it focusses much more on technical issues (how shots were set up, lighting effects, etc.) rather than the more interesting (to me) and probably more appropriate plot issues. There is a storyboard presentation (which goes on for a grueling hour), from which you learn little more than you could learn from the commentary. The making-of feature is very short. All in all, for something called the "Awards Edition", there's little here worth having over what appears on the video. Thus, while I enjoyed the movie, and can understand why the Academy and others gave it some awards, I don't think it's worth spending the money to buy it.
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Summary: I'm one of the few that hated this movie.
Review: People just loved this movie and I fail to see the point. Is it well done? Yes. Does it have an interesting plot? Maybe. BUT: Its pointless and depressing. Its a mainstream picture trying to be a art film. WHAT WAS THE ACADEMY THINKING??????????
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Summary: Another view...
Review: This movie is surely one of the year’s best movies and an instant classic. Never have I seen a movie that tapped into the real, true depiction of suburban life as this movie did. The story revolves around Lester Burnham, a lonely husband and father whose life has slipped away before his eyes. He and his family have not been getting along well, and things are not right. In fact, he is already dead. Yes, the narrator, Lester, is talking to us from beyond the grave. He wakes up every morning, attends his job in advertising, and goes home to his family to have dinner and socialize. This family has slowly fallen apart over the years, and everyone has issues, especially Lester. His wife and daughter both think that he is a loser. His daughter does not want anything to do with him. He is too “weird” for her to be around. His wife is a real-estate agent, who is in a high competition with another firm. Like I said before, everyone in this movie has issues. Jane, Lester’s daughter is your basic, depressed teenager filled to the brims with angst. She feels that she is not attractive, and to not be attractive makes you “ordinary”. She has been saving money for ... implants, and is totally determined to change her image. Lester’s wife, Carolyn, is having problems with her business. She has not sold a home in a long while, and usually goes into deep depression when she does not sell. She also puts out an image of herself. Everything around her has to be perfect. Her whole image is just a front to cover the pain that she is feeling inside. She feels that if the house is not cleaned right or the roses are not trimmed to utter perfection, then she is worthless. She often listens to self-help cassettes, and starts off everyday with a lip-syncing of “Don’t Rain on my Parade”. She is an emotional wreck from beginning to end. Then, one night at a high school basketball game, Lester catches sight of a beautiful cheerleader, Angela Hayes, Jane’s best friend. He becomes awestruck as he watches her in amazement, and from there on, she is all that he can think about, and he would do anything to get her. He starts fantasizing about her. Something in him sparks. He realizes that he would do anything to attract her to him. Meanwhile, the new next-door neighbor, Ricky Fitts, has his own problems. His dad is an ex-military officer and is very demanding and beats him often, telling him that he needs “structure and discipline”. His mother is clearly not there. Her mind is always in outer space, and she never seems to notice all of the chaos that is going on around her. Ricky films everything around him with his camera. Everything is beautiful to him. He sees beauty in the most abnormal things: a plastic bag, a dead bird, even a dead man. Ricky also benefits in Lester’s changing attitude. He influences Lester to stand up for himself and take crap from no one. He also introduces Lester to pot. Lester goes to work the next day and blackmails his boss, then quits his job, and applies to work at the local Mr. Smiley’s fast food restaurant. He also starts to work out in order to attract young Angela to him. The rest of the movie is a chronicle of what many of today’s families are going through. Most of it is disturbing, but it is all an effort to get this most important message out. Everyone in this movie eventually goes through a change, and this movie should change you also, as you realize what the suburban world is really like today.
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Summary: WATCH THIS MOVIE OVER AND OVER........
Review: Every time I wanted to buy a new DVD I had second thoughts about this movie. Well those thoughts were over when I saw this movie for the first time. Excellent movie, excellent acting. This two hour movie will make you happy but, will also make you sad. This movie shows you that there is one thing you have to do; ENJOY YOUR LIFE!!
Rating: 
Summary: As American As...Beauty!
Review: And you thought your family was crazy, the family in the movie "American Beauty" puts all others to shame. I have never seen such a lack of respect in a family establishment as has been presented in this movie. But maybe it is the complete disregard for all standard family values that makes this flick so damn good! Issues such as infidelity, homophobia, petafiles, premarital relations, and dilusional parents are addressed in this film with the notion that life as a teen ager is dark and cynical. I loved the way the father was so sarcastic to the mother and did not take any of her bull. His character made such a one eighty it was unrealistic (but hey thats a movie for you) and, his charactor, dispite being the narrator, was the most importat character. He initiated the conflict between himself and his daughter Jainie, and he continued the upserd relationship with his wife. I really admire him for his performance in the office with his boss where he demanded a years pay for doing nothing. This movie made all our families look like saints. I loved it!
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Summary: What a Great Flick!!
Review: American Beauty is a film that every high school teenager should see. It depicts what most teens are going through, though they might take it to the extreme, it does show how many are feeling. American Beauty is also a movie that every middle aged adult should see. I am sure many people go through much of the same things that both parents go through. Again, it might go to the extreme, but that is what makes this movie worth watching. many themes come through in this story, people dealing with infedelity, homofobia, and going through a mid-life crisis. These are all things that most people deal with at some point in their lives. So again this is a great movie and you should see it....its a 5 star flick..in my opinion!
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Summary: "Beautiful!"
Review: I am a little more than amazed at some of the BAD reviews of this film ranging from "lame story" to "so what." Do we understand what we have here? It's not meant to be thrilling, spine-tingling, or nail-biting action. It's meant to take a picture of America that all of us know so well exists, and yet we deny it so vehemently to our friends. "Our marriage is fine." "We have a good, well-behaved boy." Who knows? "Look closer" is a sign you find in Kevin Spacey's cubicle and I will not try to be blase in saying that it IS the overall theme in the movie, but it comes pretty close to the mark. Is everything you expect it to be? Are American neighborhoods truly the sanctum of the "decent living" that we all say that it is? No. The opening scene with Anette Benning in the front lawn is just a simple, yet powerfully shot scene of the "mask" that we put on ourselves to suppress the futility we feel in our own lives. "Look closer" at a mid-life crisis, a frustrated wife, a confused and underappreciated teenage girl, another teenage girl displacing sexual insecurity by being overtly sexual, and the drug-selling boy next door who so much wants to find beauty in his own life that he seeks it elsewhere--we don't often realize that everyone goes through a silent misery of pain everyday. Stop saying "I'm fine" to everyone when you're not...a great deal can be accomplished if we were all a little more honest with each other. Can you not say that you can't relate to someone or yourself in this film? I'll be 100% amazed if you can. I, for one, can relate to the side of the "disturbed-boy-next-door" who sees unusual beauty in mundane, every-day situations. I would like to definitely put my 10 cents in on the final scene. What does the boy find beautiful about Kevin Spacey in the end? Because Kevin Spacey has finally found a frozen moment in time when everything WAS wonderful in his life--only to be frozen in eternity. Please don't listen to those who say "I don't get it." Those who don't get it probably deserve a casting role in this film, ironically.
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