Rating: 
Summary: A Disgrace to The Academy.
Review: It is the worst film in the history of the Academy Awards. They should be ashamed of themselves for choosing this garbage to be the best picture of the year.
Rating: 
Summary: Keeping it simple.
Review: Hauntingly beautiful and affecting, American Beauty is a masterful blend of writing, directing, and acting.Very highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A perfect picture!
Review: It's simply one of the best films ever made. If you haven't seen it then you certainly should.
Rating: 
Summary: good but misleading
Review: This movie is a Social Satire. There is a lot of dark humor and several pretty serious stabs were taken at the culture of consumerism.
However, it proved to be extremely misleading for a lot of folks who chose to waste time defending (!) and embracing (!) the characters and the plot. They feel a need to do so in order to justify their own way of life.
Of course the flick has no likable heroes -- that's the whole point. Our life in suburban America became so deprived of basic human values, the director is clearly appalled and disgusted. Had it not been a bit self-gratifying, and more of a social commentary, this movie might have served as an open call for change. Instead, I hear mumblings along the lines of "life is beautiful" and "celebrate whatever life it is" and so forth. For this very reason -- that the movie fails to clearly present its point to the suburban masses, it gets only 3 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Great movie!
Review: American Beauty is about how one man (Kevin Spacey) didn't like his life and decided to change it. Lester starts off miserable. He hates his pencil pushing 9-5 job; his wife and he have just been going through the motions for years; his teenage daughter hates him; and everyone walks all over him. But he turns it all around and becomes the man that he always wanted to be and begins to live the "simple life" that he lived as a teenager when he was the happiest. As he says, it's never too late to turn it all around.
The awardsedition of this movie is great. it comes with over 3 hours of bonus features ( Behind the scenes, interviews with cast and crew, film commentary by writer and director, storyboard presentaion by director, digital screenplay with corresponding film footage and storyboards - dvd rom only -, cast and crew biographies, theatrical trailers, production notes, and other DVDrom features!)
This is a great movie - funny and dramatic. watch it, you'll love it!
Rating:
Summary: response to "Father Knows Best"
Review: I'm responding to the reviewer "Father Knows Best", who went on the usual neo-conservative "anti-PC" rant. First of all, existentialism is by no means the same as Nazism, is not neccessarily godless, and in fact was not the brainchild of Heidegger. Existentialist philosophy was espoused by a broad range of thinkers: Kirkegaarde, Sartre, Camus (who was in fact an instrumental part of the anti-Nazi Resistance, get the cliched anti-French puns out of the way now). American Beauty is not trying to promote any agenda, it is merely an attempt to reveal that suburbia's tranquility is often a front for the same kind of savagery and alienation experienced elsewhere. As for Nazism's persecution of homosexuals, that is a documented fact. Roehm may have been a homosexual, however many of Hitler's other underlings did not conform with his image of a master race. Hitler himself was not a blue-eyed, blond-haired "Aryan," it is not suprising that he tolerated other "imperfections" in his lieutenants. Denying persecution of homosexuals in the Nazi era is equivalent to those fanatics who deny the very existence of the Holocaust. Condemnation of homophobia, as depicted in American Beauty, seems to me to be nothing to be ashamed of. The homophobic military officer being a closet homosexual is not slander on the US military, but an example of something known as irony. As for educated people such as Ball and Mendes not having a basic knowledge of existentialism, one of the most influential worldviews of the century, that is just absurd. Legitimate criticism of the film-making in American Beauty, though I enjoyed it, would be appreciated, but let's keep the hackneyed Rush Limbaugh rants to ourselves, please. American Beauty, in my opinion, was an excellent movie that made an intelligent statement.
Rating: 
Summary: Movie for guys?
Review: I used to have arguments with people at work over whether "American Beauty" is a movie primarily for guys. It is told, after all, strictly from a man's perspective -- Lester Burnham's, namely, since after all, he is dead and presumably all knowing. Maybe that is why Caroline Burnham is portrayed as such a shrew, and why virtually everyone else in the picture is viewed with such cold-hearted negativity -- including the children. That is how Lester experienced them, or imagined himself experiencing them. So, from his rather narrow point of view, the portrayals do make sense. Such arguments are irrelevent, but they do make a point: "American Beauty" is a film you can't help but talk about and play over and over in your mind. For a while there back in 1999, I had the dazzling idea that movies were going to actually get better ... only to see an endless supply of greedy sequels pile into the multiplexes, making a film like "American Beauty" all the more rare and, well, beautiful. People who complain about the movie's subject matter, about its language and sexuality, who actually walked out of the theater ... well, all I can say is, they should figure out in advance what a movie is about and decide beforehand whether it's something they want to pay to see. The only movie I ever walked out of was "Battlefield Earth," and only because it was stupid to the point of mental paralysis. "American Beauty" may make you angry, but it is not stupid, or dirty, or vulgar. That some people found it shocking may say more about them than about the quality of the movie. First and foremost, "American Beauty" is a comedy, and one of the blackest since, I dunno, "Dr. Strangelove," or maybe "MASH." It is like a television sitcom pushed to the edge of nightmare, with the classical sitcom "dad" (Kevin Spacey) waking up to a new life and realizing that he's surrounded not just by boring, uninteresting people, but crazy, selfish, materialistic people. He realizes he doesn't really know his wife and that they should rekindle what they had before Grown Up Life intruded. He realizes he hasn't been communicating with his self-absorbed daughter, and that although he should do something about it, he doesn't quite know what. He realizes he had a lot more fun when he was a kid. He realizes his job sucks. And he realizes that he is, indeed, a sexual creature, though the object of his obsession (Mena Suvari, wonderful) makes him more of a pervert than a stud. The movie is a dark, nighttime journey through Lester's mind, and though it expands to include the next-door neighbors and their troubled lives, it is truly limited to his perspective and is, in fact, about him and no one else. Yeah, his activities border on criminal, and no, you shouldn't really mix weight-lifting with dope smoking and beer guzzling, but he's burning off 20 wasted years, and he does finally come around at the end. The supremely shocking thing is that Lester meets his ultimate fate just at the moment that he realizes life maybe ain't so bad, after all. He's robbed of his life just when he learns to appreciate it. How else to describe it, but as a cosmic jest at Lester's expense? The movie is excellent on every level, from the tremendous performances to the fantastic screenplay to Sam Mendes' atmospheric direction. It is by turns hilariously funny and somberly dramatic. It is unpredictable and insightful about the way Americans live, a quality I cherish above any CGI effect you can imagine. That it is just a little cold, just a little austere, and just a little too pessimistic, is a flaw I'm willing to live with because othewise there is so much much to enjoy here. Was it honestly the best picture of a great year at the movies, a year that saw the release of "Magnolia," "The Green Mile," "Eyes Wide Shut" and "Fight Club"? Yeah. It was.
Rating:
Summary: Possibly the Best Movie I've Ever Seen...
Review: I was introduced to this movie late - actually less than a year ago was the first time I got to see it. My grandpa sells used movies quite often, and my mother happened to get this one from him. Her and I usually enjoy the same films, so when she told me that she had watched it and disliked it immensely, I nearly didn't bother watching it myself. But I decided I would because Spacey was in it; and damn, am I glad that I did! To me, this movie achieved so much in a little over two hours. It gave a brilliant portrait (even if it was a little bit of a caricature) of the stereotypical American family. And it addressed so much more on top of that: the obsession with material things, transformation, superficiality, prejudice born out of supressing one's own self and emotions, the denial of mortality, the pressure to conform and as Ball put it, "[finding] the miraculous within the mundane." This film gives off an undeniable feeling of inspiration. I can watch it over and over, and I still get those chills just like I was watching it for the first time once again. And it incites so many emotions - many that are contradictory. It is absolutely disturbing. But at the same time, it completely fills you with hope. It's incredibly depressing, yet it lifts you. The only thing I can think of to can compare it to would be some Radiohead songs. It inspires you to see the beauty in the most mundane of things and events. It reminds you that you are mortal, and that this is a good thing. Like Ball wrote in an interview: "[W]e live in a culture that goes out of its way to deny mortality...and I think you have to have a deep and fundamental acceptance of mortality to really be able to see what's beautiful in life." This is a movie that I can enjoy in any mood, and I always gleen new things when I re-view it. I got even more from reading Ball's screenplay, and I was amazed at how closely the film was adapted from it. I mean, almost word for word. There weren't many added/ommitted scenes from the foundation the screenplay built for the movie. Alan Ball has proven himself to me as such an amazing writer just by this one piece alone, and I cannot *wait* to read/watch more from him. There were a few things that were ommitted however, and one of those things were very big, and would have put a very different feel on the entire movie. If you haven't watched the movie yet, there are a few spoilers here. You see, near the end of the movie, Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is shot and killed by his neighbor Col. Frank Fitts (Chris Cooper), and it basically ends like that (with some other very inspirational & emotional scenes, and comments by Lester). When the movie first begins, we see Lester's daughter Jane (Thora Birch) speaking to Ricky Fitts (Wes Bentley). He has an obsession with filming things, and happens to be filming Jane while she expresses that her dad is a "lame-o" and should be put out of his misery. She then offers to give all of her money that she had saved up over the years from babysitting - nearly $3,000 - to hire someone to kill her father. Jane then makes it clear that she was just kidding around, but Ricky had already turned the camera off at that point. In the movie, this has significance, but in a very different way than in the screenplay. In the screenplay, Ball had envisioned the movie to start out in the courtroom. Ricky's father had turned in the videotape of Jane's disturbing thoughts to the police, and both Ricky and Jane are found guilty of 1st degree murder at the end of the movie. That aspect of the movie was shot during filming, but dropped during editing because Ball and Mendes felt it made the film too cynical and that it took much away from what was most important in the film: Lester's transformation and realizations. I'm glad that they did, I enjoy the film much more the way it is. This film, far from being just an incredible story, also has amazing acting. Kevin Spacey is one of my favorites, so I'm a little biased. But he is terrific. He portrayed Lester's character - especially his transformation - incredibly, and I find it impossible to imagine anyone else having played that role. Everyone else in the film were brilliant as well, even the annoying "Buddy King" and Lester's way over-enthusiastic and wacky wife Carolyn. But I was most impressed, besides Spacey, with Chris Cooper's performance. His portrayal of a homosexual in denial was so cryptic (much less so in the screenplay), but it was brilliantly done in the movie - with his unbridled anger at anything that reminded him of what he was so ashamed of: himself.
--Spoilers Over-- Anyway, for those who have not seen this movie, I hope you see it soon! It really does something to me when I watch it that no other film ever has. Keep on writing, Alan Ball!!!
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant in every aspect.
Review: From the side-splittingly funny, inspiring, introspective script to the artful, rhythmic, steadily-paced cinematography to the innovative, minimalistic, percussion-driven score, American Beauty is a brilliantly-realized piece of theatre. This movie has made an everlasting impression on me. Some might argue it is because I've watched it 30+ times, but I beg to differ! Not only is this one of the funniest movies I've ever watched, but it is also THE most inspiring and enlightening movie I've seen. Here is an excerpt from the movie... I hope those who are reading this don't get mad at me. It may spoil the impact of the seen a bit, so be forewarned. "It was one of those days where it's a minute away from snowing and there's this electricity in the air, you can almost hear it, right? And this bag was just dancing with me. Like a little kid begging me to play with it. For fifteen minutes. That's the day I realized there was this entire life behind things and this incredibly benevolent force that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid, ever. A video's a poor excuse, I know, but it helps me remember... I need to remember. 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..." It's scenes like the above that are so original, so poignantly written, that I can't help but be in total awe of them. The score is, I don't even want to say a perfect complement, because as with any great score it seems to meld perfectly with the film and enhance and amplify, and perhaps even add to what is already there. Thomas Newman has outdone himself. I could analyse this film for hours. All I can say is rent this, watch it -- then watch it again and look closer.
Rating:
Summary: Do I need to say more?
Review: Chosen as the Best Film of 1999 by: The Producers Guild of America
ABC Radio
The Boston Globe
Broadcast Film Critics Association
Chicago Tribune
Los Angeles Times
National Board of Review
New York Observer
NY1-TV
Online Film Critics Society
Rolling Stone
San Diego Film Critics Society
San Francisco Chronicle
The Washington Post
WNBC Radio Chicago Film Critics
Association of London Film Critics Do I need to say more?
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