Rating: 
Summary: Everything positive you've heard is true
Review: After it won the Academy Award, I had to see what all the hype for "American Beauty" was about. The hype wasn't misleading; now it is my favorite film of all time. The story centers around Lester Burnham. He's living the "american dream" - nice house, nice cars, everything. But he's bored senseless. He's alive but he hasn't been *living* for decades. After meeting Ricky Fitts, his new neighbor, he realizes this boy is everything he used to be and wishes he still could be; care-free, wise, in love with life and happy. Another person changes his life - his daughter's best friend, Angela Hayes. He falls instantly in love with her and would do anything to have her. And then he reaches his breaking point - "I feel like I've been in a coma for about 20 years and I'm just now waking up." He quits his job, tells his wife off, uses drugs, and wins over Angela. He drops the banality of everyday American life - wake up, work, sleep, repeat - and becomes free-spirited. This transformation is inspiring to say the least. Everyone in this movie is perfectly cast. Kevin Spacey seems like he was born to play Lester, as Al Pacino seemed to be for Michael Corleone. Annette Benning plays the cutesy, money-obsessed wife perfectly. Mena Suvari is a good choice for an ordinary teen since she has starred in ordinary teen movies like American Pie. Wes Bentley does the introverted Ricky perfectly. Even Ricky's parents are played to the dot. There's a lot of inspiring wisdow here that I hope even the naysayers recognize - "This isn't life, this is just stuff. And it's become more important to you than living."
Rating:
Summary: Tragic and funny ...look closer
Review: "Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world, I feel like I can't take it, and my heart is just going to... cave in." ~Wes Bentley. The first time I saw "American Beauty," I was five minutes late. I had no idea what I was getting into. All I knew is that the actor who had gotten my attention in such great movies as "The Negotiator" and "The Usual Suspects" was in the starring role, and that little kid from "Now and Then" had grown up and was showing off her chest. That was all I knew, all I expected. What I got was something much more than I would've ever expected from any movie: I got a masterpiece of such caliber that it quickly became one of my all-time favorite movies, ranking right alongside "E.T." and "Army of Darkness." The movie was like a vacuum that sucked me in from the first frame I laid my eyes on. I laughed my butt off, I was saddened, and I came out of the movie having a completely different perspective on how to live life, because that is what this film is really about: Life. Not so much how to live as how not to live it. We aren't advised to smoke marijuana or develop a crush on our teenage daughter's best friend when we're 42, we aren't advised to have an affair with the local real estate king, we aren't encouraged to film things that are none of our business through our upstairs window, and we aren't encouraged to like or despise homosexuality. We are encouraged, on the other hand, to live life for exactly what it is, not to fake who we are, and to not get so wrapped up in the idea of our own personal success that all other priorities including self and family become less than secondary. Carolyn: Lester, you're gonna spill beer on the couch. Lester: (Stands up, annoyed) So what? It's just a couch! Carolyn: This is a $4000 sofa upholstered in Italian Silk! This is NOT just a couch! Lester: (Picks up a sofa cushion and repeatedly slams it down on the couch in rhythm with his speech) IT'S... JUST... A... COUCH! (Lets go of cushion) This isn't life! (Softer) This is just stuff... and it's become more important to you than living. Well, honey, that's just nuts. The heart of "American Beauty" lies within that simple exchange of dialogue, and you can find evidence of that simple theme underlying every scene in the movie through the symbolism of roses. The many roses in "American Beauty" display a very simple message: Something isn't right. Something is being covered up. The world as we see it right now, while those roses are on the screen, is synthetic. Look for the roses in the movie. They're everywhere. The most obvious placement is the center of the dining table during the first dinner scene, and their absence in the second one, during one of the most kinetically hilarious arguments in cinema history. "Video is a poor excuse, I know... but it helps me remember... I need to remember..." ~Wes Bentley "American Beauty" is a movie to remember. We should all look at the real message of this extraordinary film as one to live by until the day we die. And we should also remember the remarkable performances from Kevin Spacey as Lester Burnham, the unhappy suburbanite confronting his midlife crisis; Annette Bening as Carolyn Burnham, the success-starved, sexually-frustrated real estate tycoon who begins an affair with Buddy Kane; and the three teenagers, Wes Bentley as the indomitable Ricky Fitts, Thora Birch as the insecure Jane Burnham, and Mena Suvari as the seemingly perfect example of American beauty, Angela Hayes. And the direction by Orson Welles look-alike Sam Mendes, screenplay by Alan Ball, and cinematography by veteran shooter Conrad L. Hall complete the circle of perfection this film has to offer. "American Beauty" was the last masterpiece of the 1990's, and it deserved every Oscar it got, possibly more.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining, But Overrated
Review: Perhaps I'm judging this movie a little unfairly--that is, against the hype and excessive accolades it received rather than against only its own successes and failures. It IS, after all, an entertaining, enjoyable film. But I would not call it a great film. Enough has been said about the great performances--yeah, they're great, but.... It is a message film about middle age, suburban American life, and base materialism. As a message film, though, it is very odd. Lester Burnham, successful executive, burns out, blackmails his boss, quits his job, and develops the hots for his teenage daughter's best friend. His shrewish wife, meantime, starts a romp with a local hot shot real estate agent, who turns her on not only to adultery, but to shooting, too, offering the cliched explanation that it makes him feel powerful. Lester's daughter starts hanging out with the weird, pot-dealing son of the fascistic Marine (yes, THAT old cliche) next door. The boy's father beats the tar out of him routinely, and with particular violence when he suspects his boy might be gay. Not soon after, during a painful scene of misunderstanding that results from the boy assuring his father that he and Lester have been having sex (not true; he said it to hurt his father), the father makes a pass at Lester. Yes, ANOTHER cliche: the Nazi-like homophobe (who actually collects Nazi war relics!) who is really gay himself! And what about the other messages? That the best way to deal with a difficult marriage, and life's disappointments is to quit your job, start smoking dope, and paw your daughter's friends? Seriously? The only normal, well-adjusted people in this movie are Lester's gay neighbors (the other neighbors), whom we only briefly meet. I wonder...is this a message, too?
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: This is one of those movies you sit at home and wait for. American Beauty is about the lives of a disfunctional american family with there struggles. It's so hard to explain you'll be left in aw at the end it's so moving. I can agree with why it won so many awards. This movie is for people who like thoughtworthy movies.
Rating:
Summary: Not surprising
Review: After seeing a lot of negative reviews it doesn't surprise me a bit. I think that most take things too literal and don't realize and appreciate a good metaphor. The only minor quibble I have is that of Chris Cooper's character being a latent homosexual (too stereotypical and played like revenge...), but it didn't detract from this great film, in my opinion. I suspected from outset that there would be many who would hate this film and consider it trash. Unfortunately, there are too many of us who expect to just sit back and be entertained. And when a film comes along that forces us to examine ourselves we balk. Alan Ball said it best when he stated that we spend most of our lives thinking about life and our personal situation, yet few films ever get made that do that. Too bad. The masses get their "Independance Day" fodder and the few of us, who get it, will take films like "American Beauty," as a testament of the real independance!
Rating:
Summary: Maybe it won't change your life
Review: but it'll certainly keep you thinking. And considering things you never thought of before. Image quality and sound - first rate. Extras - fine. Knock out capacity - amazing.
Rating: 
Summary: Extremely Overrated
Review: I was extremely disappointed with this film after all the hype. There were so many cliches in it- the homophobe who is a closet homosexual, the sexually repressed suburban couple who end up having affairs to get out of their stale lives, the militarist who happens to have Nazi memoribilia, the girl whom everybody wants who turns out to be dull and insecure and sexually inexperienced etc. The filming was not particularly great either. Lawn Dogs perhaps examines bourgeois/suburban paranoia and complexes with better skill. So what does work at all? Perhaps a non-American directing, or the eccentric boy across the street who turns out to be the most interesting character. Oh and a couple of mildly funny jokes. But even these are not enough to bump my rating up to two stars. Some films and books are justly revered, however there's those that only get revered because someone influential says they should be. This film is being forgotten already. I suggest you rent this before you buy it, to make sure you aren't making an expensive mistake!
Rating: 
Summary: "A Misleading Story"
Review: What "American Beauty" is supposed to be about involves a dysfunctional American suburban family who suffers uncommon everyday social problems. The idea of the dad being attracted to her daughter's friend is more frequent in real life than most people believe. But, I don't think it was done right when Kevin Spacey did drugs and other things to impress her. This didn't show any reaction from his daughter. This was a lot like a Jerry Springer episode. The entire main idea of this movie was very flawed because reaction to the situation was only seen through the eyes of Kevin Spacey: not of his wife or his daughter. It's like your looking for the hamburger buns and you're obviously in the dairy section. If you study this movie after you watch it a few times, you'll probably get the REAL idea of it.
Rating:
Summary: Awful
Review: I bought this DVD without renting it first, which was a big mistake. With all the "critical acclaim" it got, I figured it was worth a shot when I saw it on sale at a local store. I found almost no humor in what turned out to be the darkest "black comedy" I've seen in years. While I'll admit that the acting was excellent, the story itself is just sick. If you think you might be interested in this movie, do yourself a favor and rent it first.
Rating:
Summary: Disturbing because it's real?
Review: I found this movie painfully real, and that's what makes it so good. However, without Spacey and Beninng, the movie would probably be worse. We have to realize that there is more to the movie than a story - actors, director, screenplay writer, etc. When you're judging a movie, you judge all of that. I find everything in the movie phenomenal, and that's what earns it a five-star rating. There are plenty of movies out there that didn't make it just because they didn't have good actors. Do you think "Casablanca" would have been such a masterpiece if they went with a first choice for main actor(Ronald Reagan), who refused the role? I am not clear why would people who find this movie "disturbing" give it a one star rating only? Just because you a) pretend to not understand something; or b) understand, but choose to ignore something, doesn't make that bad ...
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