Rating: 
Summary: Sam Mendes has proven himself with the best first film debut
Review: American Beauty is third on my list of the greatest movies of 1999. (1. Fight Club, 2. The Insider) Sam Mendes has a great gift for directing actors into being the best they can be. It's very gratifying that millions of people will experience Sam Mendes directing if they have never seen one of his plays. I'm one of those people.
Rating: 
Summary: Off beat satire on dysfunctional family values
Review: The world loves this film and so did the Academy giving it eight nominations (including undeserved ones for Editing and Score) and Oscared it five times (Film, Actor- Spacey, Director, Cinematography and Screenplay). I can see the noms for Spacey and Bening. I can even see a nom for Screenplay, but there it stops. This film was merely diverting and interesting - it was in no way the best film of the year. Politics at play once again. When it was over I was not enlightened, intrigued or uplifted. It was a diversion - no more, no less. Wes Bentley impressed as a newcomer but other than that.... it's not a great film, I predict it will be quickly forgotten.
Rating:
Summary: They Don't Get Much Better Than This
Review: What a great movie. Actually great isn't quite the adjective that fits here. It's more of a PERFECT IN EVERY DETAIL NO MATTER HOW MINUTE OR MINISCULE movie. Just see this movie O.K.? You'll be doing yourself a favor. Aside from the incredible direction, the marvelous acting, the beautiful score, there's the breathtaking movie itself. . . a wondrous apparition to behold. See it.
Rating:
Summary: A Flat Out Masterpiece
Review: "American Beauty" is a flat out masterpiece, the film is great from every angle, acting, directing, music, editing, etc. Kevin Spacey's performance stands out as the best of the bunch in this movie, the rest of the cast gives great performances as well. This film is beautiful, intoxicating, and mesmerizing. This film truly deserved it's Best Picture award. This film is great that is all I can say.
Rating: 
Summary: It Made For a Really Good Trailor..........
Review: This movie is really pretty bad. Nothing in this movie was groundbreaking in the least, and the fact that nearly everybody bought into it was just sad. The people in this movie are stereotypes through and through, which is a thing comedies are made of not dramas. Just think for a second of this movie played for laughs as opposed to the garbage seriousness that ended up on the screen.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm glad I saw this movie twice!
Review: American Beauty did very little for me the first time around. Its indictment of the "American way of life" has been done many times before, and often better. And I agree with another reviewer who suggested that not every homophobe is a closet case (that's just the way the world works). I was also put off by the extraordinary number of cliches in the dialogue. But on second viewing, I realized that that's exactly how these people would talk. I appreciated it more the second time, although I still feel it was overrated, and that Kevin Spacey should not have won the Oscar over Russell Crowe's intense and multifarious performance in The Insider. But my second viewing also reinforced my feeling that the two central performances (and characters) are the weakest parts of the film. Spacey has done this kind of oddball, world-weary character enough times already - he's a great actor, and not uninteresting even just marking time, but that's what he's doing here. Annette Bening is (I'm agreeing with another reviewer here) unbearably shrill and one-note: she's capable of much better (I'd love to have seen Bebe Neuwirth in this role). The young actors are much better, as is the underrated Chris Cooper in a difficult role. Peter Gallagher is wasted as an underdeveloped minor character. One thing that annoyed me about this film is the way the director assumes we will sympathize with Spacey's character over Bening's. She's often right: there is nothing intrinsically admirable about impulsively quitting your job when you have a family to look after; sex can be fun and spontaneous without spilling beer all over the living room furniture; it is not unreasonable to expect some gratitude from your husband and daughter when you come home after a long day's work to cook them a "nutritious yet savory" dinner. American Beauty opens with Lester wanking in the shower: metaphorically, he wanks all the way through the film. Because of the complicated relationships between the younger characters, this is a must see. Cooper's enactment of a deeply conflicted person is also worth experiencing. The filming is expert. But American Beauty has a hole at its center: the two leading characters don't work. Good soundtrack, though....
Rating:
Summary: American Beauty
Review: An incredible piece of work! Kevin Spacey was flawless and absolutly deserved the oscar he won. I love Annette Benning and loved her performance. A truly unique way of showing how some people appear one way on the outside but if you "look closer" they are a completely different person trying to get out i.e. Kevin Spacey's Lester. Timeless masterpiece!
Rating:
Summary: Breathtakingly Brilliant!
Review: Beautifully executed movie that was able to blend comedy and drama into one in a way never done in Hollywood yet. One disappointment was that Annette Bening didn't win an Award she really did deserve.
Rating:
Summary: American Beauty is the Best
Review: What a magnifent movie. I was so moved. The last few lines are what make the movie. If we would just recognize Joy in our lives as it happens perhaps we will not end up here. Take care to love your family, friends, and acquitances while they are in attendance.In JOY
Rating:
Summary: American Beauty
Review: What a magnifent movie. I was so moved. The last few lines are what make the movie. If we would just recognize Joy in our lives as it happens, all this would not be necessaary. In JOY
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