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American Beauty (The Awards Edition) Customer Reviews (79 - 81 of 109 Reviews)

An American Beauty! Look closer...
Bought by Steven Spielberg for Dream Works Pictures, the screenplay of "American Beauty" was given to the British director Sam Mendes under just one condition: "Don't change even a line". Result: the movie is being acclaimed by American and international press and, due to its favoritism (American Beauty is the winner of three Golden Globes: best screenplay, director and picture). And it is just Sam Mendes' first film.

"American Beauty" is one of those unusual motion pictures, that eventually arises to show that the industry of American cinema is not restricted to commercial productions to be consumed by the public, without any sense of criticism. It is a light narrative, which constantly sways between comedy and drama, starring Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening, that concerns the appearances of our lives, based on the relationship of a suburban and contemporary American family. What the movie try to and does demonstrate is that, in fact, nothing is what appears to be. (that is why the movie tagline "... look closer" makes sense) In "American Beauty", almost all the characters pretend or seem to be what they really don't are. All except Lester Burnham, the character performed by Kevin Spacey, who, with nothing to lose, do vanish all appearances, starting to behave like a teenager, as a try to escape from the familiar coma. Slowly, this brilliant story discard the apparent American beauty. There is no more American way of life, there is just life. And the beauty can be found in the most ordinary things of life. We just need to look closer. And this is the essence of the movie, this is what makes it special, an excellent American film, with excellent screenplay, direction and performances.

Hollywood makes history with "American Beauty", marking a time of turning its attention to more mature and better written scripts. Now, it is going to be perfect if the public accepts this new style of American movie and start to face cinema as an art and not a mere entertainment. So, take a look! We don't see a film like this every time we go to the movies.

TAKING A CLOSER LOOK AT AMERICAN BEAUTY
"American Beauty" is the story of Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), a man unhappy in his home life, unsettled with the prospect of growing old and disenchanted with his career. Neither his wife, Carolyn (Annette Benning) nor his daughter, Jane (Thora Birch) respect him and his neighbors don't even know who he is. In short, Lester is a man swimming on the rim of a mid-life crisis. But the tide begins to turn in his favor when Lester decides to throw caution to the wind, blackmail his bosses and collect a hefty buy out settlement. Of course, Lester's new found independence does not sit well with Carolyn, who prides herself on being in charge of everyone's lives. To relieve her angst, she takes up with rival real estate agent, Buddy Kane (Peter Gallagher) while Jane attempts a misguided elopement with her strange boyfriend, Ricky Fitts (Wes Bentley). Of course all this upset leaves Lester free and clear to pursue a relationship with the high school trollop and Jane's best friend, Angela (Mena Suvari). What is so incredibly compelling about Sam Mendes' masterpiece of reflection, is not so much the way all these lives intersect on a crossroads ultimately doomed to destruction, but how ably the director has managed to capture a slice of the decline and fall of America's constitutional motto of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

The DVD transfer does a fine job of capturing the stylized color scheme. Colors are rich, bold and nicely balanced. Contrast levels are bang on. Blacks are deep and solid. There is a hint of pixelization that is more obvious during the darker scenes, but it does not distract from your viewing enjoyment. Fine detail is fully realized. Occasionally there is a hint of edge enhancement but again, it is not terribly obtrusive. The audio is 5.1 and delivers a very deep, rich bass, particularly in the music tracks. An audio commentary, featurette and stills gallery round out the limited extras on this disc.

Self-reviewing Movie
That's right- it's a rarity (perhaps this is the only time it's ever happened), but this film's title aptly describes the movie itself. It's one of the freshest, funniest and ultimately up-lifting stories about a murder you'll ever see.

Kevin Spacey plays Lester Burnham, a man whose last name should be "Burn-out-" until he catches a glimpse of his daughter's sexy friend. This inspires Lester to go on a rampage of self-improvement. Spacey's a wonder in this role- from his droll voice-over to his character's biting sarcasm. But the performance of the film has to be Annette Bening as Lester's shallow, ambitious, materialistic, real estate agent wife. Bening is by turns falsely charming, overly needy, self-loathing and domineering, but finds vulnerability and believability in a role that, in a lesser film and with a lesser performer, would've become a cartoon. She makes a worthy sparring partner for Spacey. Complicating matters are the Burnham's weirder-than-weird next-door neighbors; Chris Cooper is ferocious as the homophobic Col. Fitts and Wes Bentley plays his son, the videophile with a troubled past who sells pot to the revitalized Lester. Bentley also gets involved in a touching romance with Thora Birch as Lester's daughter.

"American Beauty" moves in mysterious ways, teases the viewer with several possible outcomes before ending in violence, but with a strangely serene and entrancing coda that will literally make you feel a whole lot better- sort of like Lester himself. This is a very worthy film that cuts right to the heart of suburban malaise and materialism and finds spiritual lessons and bittersweet humor even in its smallest moments. With Mena Suvari as the trash-talking sexpot friend Lester obsesses over, and "Quantam Leap's" Scott Bakula as neighbor Jim who lives with his lover, Jim. Peter Gallagher ("sex, lies and videotape") turns in a memorable supporting performance as the Real Estate King, Bening's competitor and mentor- although his mentoring turns very odd.

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