Rating: 
Summary: "BEAUTY" IS SOMETHING TO BEHOLD
Review: "AMERICAN BEAUTY" EASILY EXCELS AS THE BEST FILM OF 1999! FEATURING KEVIN SPACEY IN AN OSCAR-WINNING ROLE AS LESTER BURNHAM, A DOWN ON HIS LUCK AVERAGE "JOE" SUFFERING THROUGH THE WOES OF A MIDLIFE CRISIS, WHEN IT SEEMS THE BOTTOM HAS DROPPED OUT OF HIS LIFE. LESTER REALIZES HE MUST NOT ONLY DEAL WITH AN UNBLISSFUL MARRIAGE TO HIS REAL ESTATE HUNGRY WIFE,PLAYED BY ANNETTE BENING (OSCAR NOMINATED), WHO SIMPLY AVOIDS HIS ATTENTION TO FOCUS MORE ON HER WANTS AND NEEDS, HE MUST ALSO DEAL WITH HIS CONTINUING INFATUATION TOWARDS HIS HIGH SCHOOL DAUGHTER'S (THORA BIRCH) CHEERLEADER FRIEND (MENA SUVARI), AND HIS RACIST MILITARY OFFICER NEIGHBOR (CHRIS COOPER). COMBINE THOSE ELEMENTS WITH STORYLINES INVOLVING BENING'S AFFAIR WITH PETER GALLAGHER AND THE MILITARY OFFICER'S SON'S AFFECTION FOR BIRCH, AND AN INTRICATE SCRIPT BY OSCAR-WINNER ALAN BALL,AND YOU HAVE A FUNNY, TRAGIC FILM THAT IS A CONTEMPORARY MASTERPIECE.WHILE I HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM ON DVD, I DEFINITELY RECOMMENDED YOU SEE IT, FOR IT IS, INDEED, A MOVIE FOR ANY SERIOUS FILM BUFF'S VIDEO COLLECTION.
Rating:
Summary: DVD CRAZY
Review: I knew I'd love this film when I read the script and saw the trailer. It is just one of those films which inspires me. As for the DVD, well it just makes things better. Kevin Spacey just looks so damn good. All of the bonus material is better than you could imagine, even my friend Tony was impressed. I wish I could direct movies like this, I was once in a movie and I like to think of myself as a young Mel Gibson. Who knows maybe someday people will be reviewing a movie of mine. cheers. A.
Rating:
Summary: Who's afraid of Lester Burnham?
Review: Not since earlier classics like, Who's afraid of Virginia Wolf... have I seen a performance like that of Annette Benning in American Beauty. Her neuroticism throughout the film is unparalled by any contemporary actor/actress. The biggest suprise of the 1999 Academy Awards was that Benning did not win the best actress nod. Every aspect of this film carries the quality, visual impact, and emotional excellence of nearly every classic ever idolized by film gurus over the ages. Kevin Spacey's performance was not only the apex of perfect... it was inspiring. I am not allowed enough words to detail just how well Spacey made Lester Burnham incredibly believable. "I RULE!" pretty sums up the film.
Rating:
Summary: American Classic
Review: There's a reason why this movie won the Oscar for "Best Picture". The broad range of emotions in American Beauty is very seldom seen in the visual medium.
Rating: 
Summary: When you can rent it... Rent something else
Review: I was not impressed with this movie, with all the awards it got I am starting to think drugs are in. You would have to be on something to enjoy this movie enough to give it such a high rating. But then again, to each their own. If you have ever seen a movie that got high reviews and walked away from it wondering how it got such high reviews. Well get ready for that feeling once again if you decide to watch this.
Rating: 
Summary: This beauty paradox is universal
Review: This is my opinion: AMERICAN BEAUTY is an ordinary film. Not particularly good or bad because this has all been said before about life in general. For example, THE RULING CLASS (1972) starring Peter O'Toole, shocked England as it portrayed the aristocracy as depraved and God forsaken. Robert Altman's A WEDDING (1978) with Carol Burnett portrayed dysfunction in American upper classes the same as HOME FROM THE HILL (1960) with Robert Mitchum and George Hamilton and CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF (1958) with Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor, etc., etc. Thus, dysfunction has been portrayed over and over again and with undisputed critical acclaim. Perhaps what makes AMERICAN BEAUTY so interesting to so many people is that they themselves are either young (20ish) and going around for the first time, or they never had the opportunity to think freely when that was the thing in the 50's and 60's (remember the hippies?) and freethinking is finally mainstream. Consequently, AMERICAN BEAUTY gives them a chance to look at social diversity (which is commonplace) without censure. Whether they went away accepting homosexuals, latent homosexuals, or platonic/sexual love paradoxes, there is nothing new in AMERICAN BEAUTY other than standard movie fare. Get it? Moreover, it is my opinion that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences selects the picture of the year based on what-to them-has the greatest social relevance for that particular year. Go figure. Lastly, an upper class American lifestyle perhaps isn't so beautiful after all.
Rating:
Summary: Superb
Review: This film was very good it had a great plot! And the story was very good. But it had too much masturbation it seemed like that's all the movie was about in the begining. But after it got past that it was good almost like a thriller flick.
Rating:
Summary: LOOK CLOSER.... AT THE BEST MOVIE OF 2000!
Review: WHEN I WENT TO GO SEE THIS MOVIE, I WAS SKEPTICAL ABOUT WHAT I HAD HEARD ABOUT THIS MOVIE, ESPECIALLY THE PLOT. SO I SAT DOWN AND JUST PREPARED FOR A STRANGE MOVIE, BUT THE SECOND THAT THOMAS NEWMAN'S MUSIC HIT THE SCREEN, I KNEW THAT I WAS IN FOR SOMETHING BIG, SOMETHING WONDERFUL, SOMETHING WITH A PURPOSE. THE MOVIE IS FULL OF LUCIOUS IMAGES OF PURE BEAUTY, TRAGEDY, AND SUBURBIA. THE STORY GOES SLOW AND THEN BUILDS UP TO A GREAT CLIMAX. ITS ALMOST AS THOUGH ITS A BAG FILLING WITH WATER THAT GETS BIGGER AND BIGGER UNTIL THE VERY END, WHEN IT EXPLODES. SPACEY IS PERFECT AS LESTER, PERIOD, NO QUESTION. BENNING IS GREAT TOO, AS WELL AS THE REST OF THE CAST. A RARE TREAT THAT YOU WON'T SOON FORGET. IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THIS MASTERPIECE, FOR GOD'S SAKE WATCH IT, YOU REALLY DON'T KNOW WHAT YOUR MISSING!
Rating:
Summary: American Beauty: American Masterpiece
Review: This is by far the most "complete" movie I have ever seen. From cinematography to writing to acting...absolutly superb! The thing that I loved about this movie is that it had an effect on everyone who saw it. Whether it was a good or bad effect was each viewers desicion...but it did leave an effect. So many movies just play things at face value and do not reach into your soul and tell you something about yourself. This movie did this with beauty and ease. Even if you hated this movie...deep down there is something in this movie that made you question how you are living your life. And it's okay for you to let a movie do that to you...please do! If you hated this movie, I plead with you to watch it again. I have seen it 8 times in the theatre's. My thoughts on the movie change with each viewing. I still love it...but for different reasons each time. If all else, see this movie to witness one of the greatest Acting ensembles ever assembled in a movie. Headed by the man himself, Kevin Spacey, this cast takes you on this bumpy emotional rollercoaster ride. If you have already seen the movie...see it again...and this time: Look Closer!
Rating:
Summary: Can't Figure Out the Hype
Review: The only reason I gave this two stars, and not one, is I was intreged enough to watch it all the way through, though it took me two settings to complete it. The reason I had to watch it in two settings is because is was so completely depressing and going nowhere. I was really annoyed by the Father who was love w/ a teen, (and not with his wife), the hysterical wife, and the doldrum daughter. The whole family wouldn't give the time of day to each other. The disturbing way the Colonial treated his son and others was also not inspiring. Really, I can't remember when I was so depressed watching a film. I was puzzled beyond belief at how this movie recieved such possitive attention.
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