Michonne (comics) Reviews

An outstanding dark comedy about the secrets of suburban life that makes you ask the question... "How well do we know our own neighbours?" Arguably the best film of 1999. Winner of 5 Academy Awards and deservedly so. Look closer.
Starring Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Chris Cooper, Thora Birch, Mena Suvari, Wes Bentley.

''It was one of those days when it's a minute away from snowing and there's this electricity in the air, you can almost hear it. And this bag was, like, dancing with me. Like a little kid begging me to play with it. For fifteen minutes. And that's the day I knew 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. Video's a poor excuse, I know. But it helps me remember... and I need to remember... Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it, like my heart's going to cave in.''


Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation for his daughter's attractive friend. While his daughter forms a bond with the new boy in her neighborhood...

Kevin Spacey: Lester Burnham

Annette Bening: Carolyn Burnham

American Beauty, right from the start tells me form the perfect narration by Kevin Spacey that this is going to be a powerful film and story and boy is it...



A lesson in life, this comes so close into a glimpse of what life is. Character's are not cut outs but living breathing souls that you care about, that you can relate too. All the cast including director Sam Mendes have succeeded in crafting a world which reflects our own so well.
The score, the music all add to the beauty of it. Powerful camera work which is neatly shot and smooth. Transitions flow consistently, while the story shifts between characters to obtain diversity.

This film should affect everyone who sees it because anyone can relate to it's intricate curving and believable characters. American Beauty is actually a social satire of suburban America. These people have an image of what they are "supposed" to be implanted in their brains. One day Lester (Kevin Spacey), snaps out of it. Lester realizes there is more out there than a dead end job, a wife who bosses him around and is obsessed with material possessions, but more importantly Lester realizes there is more in him. As Lester starts to change himself, it also affects his environment. His wife Carolyn (Annette Benning) is totally thrown off keel by his actions. Lester has discovered that they are not the average middle class suburban family but a completely unique group of human beings. When he tries to get this message across to Carolyn, she rejects him, has an affair, and convinces herself she is the victim. Lester and Carolyn's message and the main message of the movie is that we all wear masks, put up visages. Thus unless we become ourselves, we can never truly be happy. It is said multiple times in the film that it would be terrible to be ordinary.

Now, there is a second message. A parallel story is being told. That of Lester's daughter Jane and her boyfriend Ricky. While these two stories are deeply intertwined and connect with each other, Ricky and Jane's message is equally important. Ricky lives in a world of beauty. Beauty is everywhere and in everything. Jane, who at the beginning of the film believes she is ordinary and plain, is brought into this world by Ricky and is shown how much she has to offer. Their message is that there is beauty in everything and all you have to do is look for it.

Kevin Spacey was phenomenal in this, he really was. As was Wes Bentley, this however, his portrayal of his character Ricky Fitts, shows me what a good actor he is. His weirdness and way of shooting things is interesting while his relationship with Jane is touching indeed.
I'm glad the ending was realistic and it added a more meaningful punch to a masterpiece that is defined by it's careful grasp at it's subject, life...

American Beauty is a film about life. It is a surburban drama which features what like is like in USA. This film is very bizarre in alot of other ways because of the fantasies that Lester has and what Ricky Fitts tries to prove when videoing things all the time. I personally think that at the start it seemed very female film because of the roses, visions etc but it is very male aswell. This is a film on drama, betrayal, obsession and about life in a new angle and in it's new way. It seemed a bit like a peaceful area because all of the houses and gardens within the neighbourhood look really clean and very beautiful but I find American Beauty to be a rather dark film. This film teaches the other side of America and what beautiful and natural things really are like. It tells taht side of the story because it gives that in the title. American Beauty is a very inspiring film that can warm people's hearts or can break them because of the events that take place within the film. Well, for me it did both of those things which is what a lot of other people would think of it.


Kevin Spacey gives the performance of his career. I knew that it was Spacey portraying Lester Burnham obviously but Lester is a character I can easily get the hang of and get to understand. Lester is suffering from a mid-life crisis because he ahtes his job, his bitch of a wife and young daughter who has a lot of problems against him. To take his mind off that he fantasises about and has a crush on his daughter Jane's friend Angela Hayes. Whatever character Kevin portrays for some reason he always makes me laugh even in The Usual Suspects. I found Lester really funny because he is very sarcastic with his wife which truly reveals that he hates her. Annette Bening added more spice to this film. Her performance was fantastic as Carolyn Burnham. She is the villain of this film because she always causes a fight with Lester. She is almost like a control freak who will lose control if she doesn't get what she wants but the main reason is because she ends up having an affair and cheating on Lester. They both have crushes and affairs without the other person even realising. Annette made me laugh aswell even though Carolyn is a greedy, selfish, careless and self-absorbed bitch she brings comedy together with Kevin Spacey. Thora Birch's performance as Jane Burnham was good but in my opinion could have been better. She is a nice looking woman now but I think she was a bit too ugly for Jane's character. Thora is a really powerful actress with a lot of character thouhg I really liked Wes Bentley as Jane's boyfriend and a really good friend of her father Lester Ricky Fitts. He seems like a charmer who people can fall for easily but also a complete slimeball with alot of dirty secrets by keeping lots of illegal drugs in his bedroom with faking a urine test by using someone else's so he can smoke and use the drugs. Mena Suvari was really good as Angela Hayes. Mena was an adult at the time this film was released because I realised this after seeing American Pie which was released in the same year as American Beauty, Mena really looked like a young irresistible teenager so personally I don't blame Lester for falling for her. I liked Chris Cooper too as Colonel Frank Fitts who is strict, abusive, bully, homophobic and controlling particularly against his son Ricky.


Sam Mendes gives his first and best film of his whole career. He hasn't done many films at all but they are all good films. Mendes makes American Beauty one of the most powerful films ever made. Mendes? directing career starting with American Beauty makes it the greatest film directing debut of all time. The closest rival in my opinion is Orson Welles as both actor and director in Citizen Kane. Sam Mendes wanted us to be trapped in a circle so to speak to get into the characters and to get into the chemistry between them. Alan Ball writes a very good script which is very original. I find pretty much all of original scripts to be the same.


American Beauty is one of my favourite dramas, one of my favourite film partnerships, a tie for best film of 1999 with The Green mile, Kevin Spacey's best, Sam Mendes' best, the greatest directing debut ever, one of the most powerful and beautiful films of all time with one of the biggest meaning, a close collision of best film of 1990's with Forrest Gump, The Green Mile and Fight Club. I will never forget American Beauty because it is a treasured piece of art for me which makes it one of the best films ever!

On a dirty, lame-o disposition:
I know, this movie is so last decade! This has been aired on HBO for innumerable times and since it is that popular, I never bothered watching it anymore. Maybe it is just another teen movie, I told myself. And now I'm gravely mistaken. Lester Burnham (Spacey) is the shit! His psychotic perverseness is absofuckinglutely way overboard. His horny thoughts are sick: he jerks off in the shower and on the bed and he fancies drools over a super aggressive cheerleader, Angela Hayes (Suvari). But Mr. Burnham’s perverseness is super weird and titillating, he became factually mirthful.

On a bitch-on-wheels:
On the other hand, I fucking hate Carolyn Burnham (Bening) since everything about her is so infuriating: her constant nagging, her awful taste of dinner music, her freaking voice, her fucking facial expressions, and her impeccable covetousness. She made the role very likely for her and so the lady gets a ten for her fabulous (over)acting.

On cheer sex:
Suvari’s performance is ruthless, as well. She talks about fucking non-stop and in the end, she is this hornified cherub dying to be deflowered by a mentally depressed psycho, yes, Mr. Burnham. However, I’ve always liked Suvari. Though she projected a very sexy, naughty, bitchy role in American Beauty (she even showed her breasts for cripes’ sake), I still like her. She said, “I don't think that there's anything worse than being ordinary.” And we all are ordinary. We are all at our worst.

On extreme opposites:
Jane Burnham (Birch) is very ordinary, at least for me. Her love story with Ricky Fitts (Bentley) is, however, stellar and that’s solely because of the guy’s coolness. An amateur videographer who vends and smolders pot and who thinks that there is beauty in almost everything in the world is surely a glorious find.

Postscript:
I’m giving this ten ailing stars since it sickened me in a very amusing manner. The finale of this movie is its climax. I adore the coiled fate of Mr. Durnham and how he was murdered in the last chapter. He flashed this eerie smile minutes before his brains got inoculated, as if he pulled off nirvana or something unlike it. The distorted rose petals scene is absolutely menacing. The Swastika plate literally had me on goosebumps. And the flying plastic video is purely amazing. But there’s negatives vibes: the yucky weight training and dysfunctional marriages.

"Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it, like my heart's going to cave in."

American Beauty was a movie that came to me highly recommended, and applauded by critics as a masterpiece. After watching it, it's obvious that nothing less can be said about this film. American Beauty is a masterpiece and a truly impressive film, one to be treasured for years to come, and unquestionably worthy of the numerous awards it has received.

The story that is told in American Beauty is beautiful and pleasing to watch for the most part, but also intricate and with deep meaning. Not often does a film come across with such a powerful message as this one has, and it stays with the viewer long after the film comes to an end. It follows the events of Lester Burnham, a somewhat depressed man in his early forties. His marriage is at downfall and his teenage daughter is uncaring and wants nothing to do with him. A series of events follow that lead Lester to change his life around; falling in love with his daughter's friend, drugs and quitting his job. Multiple stories within the film are told, as his daughter falls in love with the next-door neighbour and his wife realises that she wants more than her corrupt life with her family. The story starts off simply as it introduces characters and a setting, which don't seem too inimitable at the time, but as the story goes on and we travel deeper into the life of 42 year-old Lester Burnham, it becomes clear that these things aren't all that they seem to be. The characters seem to be easily related to a community such as the suburbia in which this film is set, and all have a great realism towards the story.

Probably the most impressive component to this film was the screenplay. Written by Alan Ball, it made the film so much more compelling and riveting to watch. Each line was clever and humorous to some extent, which created an enormous insight to the story and characters. This is the perfect example of how important a screenplay is, and the perfect example of how clever it can be. The directing by Sam Mendes was incredibly fulfilling and insightful to the affecting story. He created a film that is both moving and emotional, but also extremely transfixing to watch. The score was contemporary and highly expressive, adding to the entire feel of the movie. It perfectly fitted the the events and gave the film a more genuine and realistic edge.

The cast was incredible, a great mix of versatile actors, all very different from one another. Kevin Spacey as the lead role gave a phenomenal performance. After watching this film I honestly can't think of anyone else with the role of Lester Burnham. He was perfect for his character and he was gripping and potent throughout the entire film. Annette Bening was also incredible to watch, her performance was mesmerizing and she became her character to an extent that was extraordinary. Thora Birch as Lester's insecure and bemused daughter was also amazing to watch. She gave a brilliant performance beyond what I would have expected. Wes Bentley gave an electrifying performance, adding to the diversity between the many supporting actors in this film. He gave another great performance and one that connects well with the viewer. Mena Suvari was surprisingly exceptional for her role; her performance more likeable than her character. Chris Cooper and Peter Gallagher were also nice additions to the impressive cast, giving riveting and powerful performances.

American Beauty is one of the best movies ever made, and I am extremely glad that I have seen it. With a unique story, ingenious screenplay and directing, enthralling performances and full of complete beauty that is astounding to watch, American Beauty is a must-see film for anyone and everyone.

"I feel like I've been in a coma for the past twenty years. And I'm just now waking up."

American Beauty is a virtuoso, provocative, multi-faceted, incisive and unconventional drama that takes a comprehensive glimpse at the American dream gone wrong. I had approached this movie with a great deal of hesitation. There were reviews aplenty from people who praised this film as a wonderful masterpiece of the highest order. Before watching this film I could never have believed that making a film of such stature and power would actually be possible.

American Beauty is a magnificent psychological drama that takes a satirical look at the American community. The characters are versatile and intricate. The movie demonstrates the darkest things of a person's personality. Even though the characters do some truly appalling things the audience can still be involved with the characters because although bad, they are still shown as unexaggerated and human.

Lester Burnham (Spacey) is a forty-something year old suburban father who is depressed and unhappy. He has a wife (Carolyn; played by Benning), who is looking for sexual pleasure elsewhere, and he has a daughter (Jane; played by Birch) who hates her father and falls in love with their new next door neighbour Ricky (Bentley). Lester's job is leading nowhere when his company decides they have to cut back on their staff due to money issues. Lester also becomes fascinated and infatuated with one of Jane's friends; Angela (Suvari). Lester's behaviour drives him further and further away from his family that already detest him. From there, we follow each family member who are on their own emotional journey of life.

American Beauty is an extremely powerful drama carried by some superb performances. The acting is truly amazing with Kevin Spacey in a performance that won him an Oscar. Spacey has the look and feel of your usual stereotypical suburban American father. He may seem conventional but these stereotypes are explored; revealing a personality with a lot more depth and complexity. There are several horrible character traits he exhibits; however it's impossible not to empathise with him. His family drifts away from him and we can genuinely feel his motivations.

The driving force behind the film is not only the performances but the screenplay. Each line of dialogue is intriguing and enthralling. There is never a wasted minute during the film's duration because of how meticulously the dialogue was written; intelligent, fascinating and profoundly insightful.

The direction, which also gained an Oscar, is utterly flawless. Sam Mendes compliments the great screenplay with equally accomplished directing. Each scene is both engaging and meaningful; it gives the audience further insight into the characters that are being examined so deeply. On top of this, it's compelling storytelling as well as being occasionally humorous.

American Beauty is a lot more complex and eloquent than it sounds; it's a brilliant and amazing story that constructs an indication of the sad reality of contemporary American society. I never expected a film like this to be as brilliant as it turned out to be. It's relevant to today's society, it carries a good message about life and it is extremely potent. Winner of 5 Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Cinematography and Best Writing.