American Beauty

One of the hardest decisions I have had to make in a very long time…deciding what movie to review first.  I have seen so many, and there are so many out there I have not yet seen.  However, I have decided upon American Beauty, written by Alan Ball, simply because it is quite possibly one the greatest films I have ever seen.  Every moment of the film is written and directed beautifully.  Sam Mendes of course is an amazing director, but his stellar cast was what probably made directing such an amazing film effortless for him.  Before I go on with this review, let me tell you that no matter who you are, no matter what you do, and no matter what type of film you fancy, you should see this film.  There are many obvious reasons why it won Best Picture in 1999, but the main reason is that the film is simply breathtaking to admire.


The film starts out with epic foreshadowing, and it all goes downhill from there.  You know by the end of the first 5 minutes that this story is a tragedy.  Tragedy however, doesn’t have to make a film bad…a movie can be sad and still be amazing.  After the opening scene we get introduced to the main character of the film, Lester Burnham, this is Spacey’s character.  His life is summed up as less than pleasurable, and he spends the rest of his time trying to “get it back”.  His job, his wife, and his child are his only life and as he tries to find his true happiness he ends up losing most of what is “important” to him.  Spacey’s character is the epitome of the working man, stressed and distressed.  To go any further would only ruin the experience of getting to view his unexpected yet perfect performance.  I will say this…the irony of this film is to die for.  You may find after viewing it that you will have a fresh view of both happiness and beauty; let’s just say at the very least this film will enlighten you.


In my mind the writer was trying desperately to get one major point across, and that is that to be truly happy we need to first find happiness in ourselves.  Spacey starts losing his cares and worries and doing exactly what he wants to do, everything he enjoyed as an adolescent but with an added twist.  However, the film sends an added message that I think may have been unintentional as it conflicts with the films main agenda.  Most of the characters are unhappy with their lives, whether they display it or not.  Ironically, while most gain happiness from doing their own thing, all of them are only happy if the main people in their lives are happy.  I think that it displays that while we have to reach a level of enjoyment with our own actions, humans need a level of companionship and simply cannot go on threw life alone.

Three paragraphs in and I haven’t even touched upon the film’s brilliant use of imagery, the downright incredible soundtrack, and how much character depth we see in even in the minor roles.  In fact, it might be bold to say but in this film there really are no minor roles.  However, if I take the time to review each character’s performance I might be writing here all day.  Maybe someday I will go back and re-review this film…but for now this will just have to do.  One of the best films of our time, and quite possibly anytime.

Please though…judge my first review circumspectly, after all “this is my first time.”