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elliot [ 9.0 ]
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A great film that manages to be both mainstream yet subversive at the same time. It's wonderful to see something the celebrates how everyone - even everyday people living in the homogeneous suburbs - are full of deep dark secrets and oddities. It doesn't try to hide these things, or speak out against them. It just shows a bunch of imperfect people in an imperfect world, and lets you like them because of all they go through.
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JD [ 9.5 ]
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Truly an awesome film. Different from anything ever made and it will be difficult to top this film in years to come. Spacey and Benning were perfect and it was hilarious at times. An unexpected pleasure.
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Love_Spoon [ 8.0 ]
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I was quite impressed with American Beauty, as I am with any film that tries to do something a little bit new and unique. I have a lot of respect for Kevin Spacey as an actor, as he's been in several of my top 100 movies. Many people might not like American Beauty because it's racy, or it's violent, or it's deviant, but the sad, ironic thing is that I'm afraid that's exactly what America is becoming. I think it deserved the oscars that it won (but I would have liked to see Denzel and The Hurricane win, too).
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DeadCanadian [ 8.5 ]
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When I was watching "American Beauty", I was slightly off-put, because it was so bleak and disturbing, but after the movie, I thought about it for a long while and realized that in its own way, the movie was telling the truth about life, whether I liked it or not. Kevin Spacey, one of the best actors around, is perfect as Lester Burnham, and he is the character who I most identified with. Not that I identified with his obsession with the Mena Suvari character, but I certainly identified with what that meant (or at least what I thought it meant. Some people think different things were meant than I do). I could completely identify with his dissatifactation. A lot of people have cited this film about revealing the truth about the American middle class, but, and this could just be because I've lived in it all my life and have gotten too used to it, I don't think it is. I think its just about life in general. So, in conclusion, "American Beauty" is certainly not a feel-good movie and watching it will not make you feel very good, but it is a very meaningful and good movie nonetheless.
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crreig [ 9.5 ]
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Nothing can be said here that has not already been written or voiced by many, many people. This is a wonderful movie. A rare, big studio jewel, American Beauty has it all: excellent writing, superb acting, strong cinematography and good direction. It deserves many viewings.
As a footnote, I'd like to point out that American Beauty does not merely attack our middle-class. Any rendering of a culture at large must begin with the back-bone of the monster, i.e. the middle-class. The film dissects the United States at large.
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aisotton [ 9.5 ]
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just great. a heavy attack to the american middle-class dream. it shows how superficial it is, and how little it takes to break it. a middle-class can't keep on pretending he is happy anymore, and tries to find his own way and - dies.
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KIL [ 7.5 ]
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American Beauty kicks ass! It won Best Picture award of 1999, too, so obviously I wasn't the only one. Kevin Spacey, I had never noticed him before, but I recognized him from Seven. He was awesome, and I appreciated the marijuana humor, etc. If more movies illustrate how harmless marijuana is, it will be legalized sooner than later. I thought I was in for some sappy romance movie, but instead, I loved it! More of a guy movie than a girl movie.
www.outcrybookreview.com/meat.htm
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Qaizer [ 9.5 ]
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There is simple too much you can say about this movie, but in short, AB brings to you a hidden world of truth cloaked in a veil of misunderstanding. The true succes of the movie lies in the paced manner in which the substance in brought to you and in the way Mendes is able to stun the public with a danherous combination of poetry and humour. This is one of those rare diamonds of cinema that makes you think different about yourself and life.
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chapter11 [ 9.5 ]
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Beautiful .. there's a fantastic amount of stuff to chew on in "American Beauty," from the themes to the performances to even the kookier stuff (Mena Suvari and the roses, the plastic bag), to wondering how exactly that tired old theme about the underbelly of suburbia and the festering imperfections lurking beneath the surface of the all-american WASP family, well-worn over the course of dozens of indie releases, manages to still seem revelatory and fresh in a major 1999 release .. and then there's marveling at Kevin Spacey's terrific performance, and wondering when he started to suck, and then wondering why to this day he chooses to suck ("United States of Leland," "Life of David Gale," "KPAX"-- what the hell, Space'?) when he's had stuff like this under his belt .. and, of course, wondering why the little girl from "Monkey Trouble" is flashing her sweater twins at the neighbor boy's camera. Whatever. It's an incredible (and bleak, and disturbing, and totally hilarious) film that, startlingly enough, deserved every bit of the hype.
(it also deserved a supporting actor nom for Chris Cooper, but i'm pretty solidly convinced that's what his "Adaptation" statue was for)
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kcremer [ 9.5 ]
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It's so rare that you see such flawless acting by almost everyone in a movie. It's even more rare for those performances to be overshadowed by the quality of the screenplay. This is one of the most original, funny and touching movies I've ever seen.
Kevin Spacey is perfect in the lead role as a husband and father dealing with a mid-life crisis. Not to be outdone are the supporting performances by Annette Benning, Chris Cooper, Wes Bentley, Mena Suvari, and especially Thora Birch (who played a similar but much more spiced up character in "Ghost World").
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brandon [ 8.0 ]
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at one point, ricky fitts (wes bentley) makes a comment about "america's weirdest family videos" while he is filming the burnham family from his bedroom window.
true, they're not your typical all american family .. at the same time, they're not that far away. lester burnham (kevin spacey), who serves as the narrator of the story as well, has plodded along in the same thankless job for the past fourteen years. carolyn (annette bening) plays his wife, who has dedicated her life to her local real estate career. their highschool daughter, jane (thora birch), feels uncared for and ignored.
each is unhappy in this family, but accepts it for what it is.
enter the plot catalysts : next door neighbor ricky fitts, who begins filming jane constantly .. jane's friend, angela (mena sevari), who lester instantly falls for .. and the king of real estate, buddy kane (peter gallaher), carolyn's prime competition.
as the film progresses, each character earns at least a little bit of our sympathy for their circumstances .. kevin spacey does an exceptional job, and the rest of the cast more than holds their own.
the film, at least to me, was about finding beauty where we choose to see it .. because a lot of times, with all the shit that goes on, it's easy to miss it ..
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babyduck [ 10.0 ]
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Satire / Comedy / Drama that headlines with Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening but features the excellent talents of not as well known yet actors/actresses including Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, and Mena Suvari (of American Pie fame). The twisted psyche of the film's soul illuminates some of life's most interesting moments that are beautiful indeed. High points to go to the symbols that sometimes quite vivdly make their way into the character's lives.
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Mohawk [ 9.0 ]
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Totally character driven satire...with humour to boot...
This movie is a lighthearted trip down Americaville....with some hard truths driven home.
The strange thing was that each character was so different yet so similar.
This movie is truly an American Beauty...
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biffer [ 10.0 ]
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This has got to be the most poignant film of our time. Each character was completely thought out and beautifully acted. It was in many ways a very disturbing film to watch, for you can see little peices of yourself in each characer. What makes it difficult for the character, and the audience, is that each is facing him/her self for the first time in years, if not ever, and they are not liking what they see. This is the cause of Lester's 'mid-life crisis', also shown metaphorcally with his next door neighbour's movies. It was so beautiful to see everyone 'wake up' and come to terms with his or her self. I found when walking out of the theatre, I was taking a good hard look at my own life, and my problems and shortcomings.
The acting was superb in this one. Each actor was so strong, I cannot find a weakness in anyone's performance. The director had such a subtle touch, this movie just seemed to float along on air. His reaccuring shot of Lester's street was a nice touch. Each time he came back to review his life and his home, you were taking a look at how far he was coming, and how is life was changing with each passing day. It took him a little while to set up the characters and their situations at the beginning, but looking back, it was necessary int the understanding of where every one was coming from.
This is a movie I think every one must see. It reveals so many lessons that are important for everyone to learn, and pardon me for being sentimental and contrite, but it would help this world to become a better place if everyone would start taking responsibility for their own actions like they were learning to in American Beauty.
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astrosheil [ 9.5 ]
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We saw this film with another couple. We left the theatre filled with opinions on what this movie meant and what we thought about it. The men were less favorable but reluctantly admitted that it was a good movie. My female friend and I on the other hand thought that it was a sad yet humorous look at all of us, our pretenses, our facades and what is really inside of us. Brilliant acting by Spacy and Bening should bring Oscars for all.
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Stitch [ 10.0 ]
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This is a brilliant movie. Perfectly cast, perfectly acted. And that plastic bag! Kevin Spacey does rule. When I saw it there was a group of people that enjoyed the movie but afterwards I heard them talking about it like it was a murder mystery, "who killed Lester?". This is lightyears from the theme of the movie. If anything they just proved what I believe to be the movie's point, that you've got to look below the surface to what's really there. You've got to deal with issues not just bury them. But the movie is also funny (in a dark way) so it doesn't feel like you're being hit over the head with that theme.
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| Weighted Rating | : 8.1 |
| No. Ratings | : 54 | |
| No. Reviews | : 24 | |
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