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When people ask you what your favorite film is or what you think is the best or greatest film you have ever seen, you can give all sorts of reasons such as every time you see the specific film. I choose American Beauty as what I believe to be the greatest film ever made because I have seen a vast number of films and it's unlike any other film I have ever seen so far. To put it shortly, it's certainly the most original film I have ever seen.
It tells the story of Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), a middle aged magazine executive who decides to change his life by ignoring his overachieving domineering wife Carolyn (Annette Bening), smoking pot, quitting the job he hates and also developing a sexual attraction for his daughter's friend (Mena Suvari). The acting is completely flawless. I have never seen acting in a film where both the supporting cast and the lead cast are all brilliant. Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening are a powerful team and together they create two of the best performances in the history of cinema. The supporting cast consisting of Wes Bentley, Thora Birch, Mena Suvari, Chris Cooper, Peter Gallagher and Allison Janney, are both well cast and well immersed into their characters to the point where you believe they might as well be playing themselves. The characters in this film are just flawless. Lester played by Spacey is a really great character; a man who knows he should be set free and be rid of his domineering wife Carolyn played by Bening. If there was one character that I would describe as my favorite, then I think I'd go with Angela played by Mena Suvari. She is so nasty, so overconfident and so repugnant yet strangely that's what makes her more interesting and it makes you want to know so much more about her and her past. I also think Mena Suvari was Oscar worthy but then again, you can't have everything. Originally American Beauty was written by Alan Ball as a play and in the film, there are traits of play like material. But I personally think it's better off as just a film on it's own. The wordplay is brilliant, the story is very well constructed and the satire that Ball creates on 1990's suburbia is very well executed.
From a technical point of view, American Beauty is one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. The sound design and the editing is great, the visuals are neat, the music score by Thomas Newman breathes new depths into modern film score, but above all the cinematography by Conrad L. Hall is the best technical part of the film. It's not only the shots and movements of the camera that are great but there is certain magnificence to the colour that Hall uses on the houses and on the outside shots. If there is one thing I admire above all both technically and non-technically then it would be the direction by Sam Mendes. Originally a West End Theatre Director, Mendes was hired to do American Beauty after the Steven Spielberg saw his Broadway version of Cabaret. I can only imagine that going from being a theatre director to helming a film awards contender, must have been one of the most daunting experiences of anyone's life but Mendes did brilliantly. You can tell a well directed film when you see actors in complete control and when every shot and every scene looks exactly how it should in order to create a straightforward narrative/plot. For a debut, it is just incredible to see Mendes at work and he proves himself to be quite the chameleon allowing himself to brilliantly direct Theatre and Film. American Beauty is a brilliant, bold, magnificent take on life in the 1990's. It is compelling, darkly funny and the greatest film of all time.
American Beauty Reviews
The Greatest Film of All Time!
Posted : 1 year, 5 months ago on 11 November 2022 04:56
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American Beauty review
Posted : 1 year, 9 months ago on 8 July 2022 09:48
Beleza americana ou American Beauty é um desses filmes de midlife crisis sobre uma família que se encontra decadente e a beira do colapso, o nosso herói Lester Burnham é o modelo de pai padrão, que tem um emprego padrão e uma família padrão e um bairro padrão, basicamente o americano médio em toda a regra, sua mulher é padrão e sua filha é uma emo gótica ou sei lá que diabos, que lhe odeia pelo fato de não ter recebido atenção na infância, sua mulher odeia ele porque... No se, midlife crisis. Basicamente Lester levava uma vida padrão ao mesmo tempo que em seu íntimo ele odiasse tudo que conquistou porque sabia que era tudo superficial e sem sentido, trabalhando em um emprego que odeia sem sexo e com uma família que por dios.
Basicamente e em poucas palavras, American Beauty é um desses filmes satíricos que busca evidenciar a decadência moral e mental dos americanos no início do século vinte e um. Um filme sobre a quebra desse ideal de "vida perfeita" largamente disseminada em séries pra gente branca. O filme é uma crítica social(uau!!!) sobre como os americanos estão dominados pelo materialismo, pelo comodismo, hedonismo, sodomia e por vários outros que nem vale mencionar(drogas) é um retrato diria que um tanto fiel, não para a época mas para os dias atuais. A crítica feita na obra é sutil em termos de execução, não é nem excessivamente cômico, metendo comédia em cenas que não deveria ter comédia, nop, aqui a comédia está equilibrada e balanceada com o tom grotesco do filme.
Sobre a crítica do filme, é interessante notar que esse filme pode ser usado tanto por tradicionalistas como por esquerdistas. Os vermelhos dirão que esse filme ilustra a farsa do sistema capitalista e sobre como ele enterra a humanidade e resume tudo a lucro e aparência, já os altr1ght podem dizer que isso é consequência direta do liberalismo e do progressismo, sobre como o feminismo e a emancipação das mulheres desgastou profundamente a instituição familiar, todos temas abordados no filme. Podemos dizer que cada um tem um pouco de verdade, é notório que os países de dominados pelo capitalismo(primeiro mundo) compartilham muitas características entre si, como os altos índices de depressão, drogas, promiscuidade e materialismo ao extremo, por outro lado parte dessas coisas só foram possíveis graças as revoluções liberais que anulam a existência de Deus(a moral).
Direi que o filme não é nem um nem outro e se encaixa mais em uma categoria de filme antissistema tal como Clube da Luta ou Um dia de fúria. Sobre os personagens... Bién, tirando Lester e seu drama de meia idade, o restante dos personagens ou está para complementar seu desenvolvimento ou são totalmente desconexos, começando pelo sujeito metido a school shooter que filma coisas, qual o significado desse personagem? A trama inteira dá indícios de que vai fazer algo bombástico e termina não fazendo nada, dá indícios de que tem planos mas nada acontece, dá indícios de que vai matar alguém e nada acontece. O mesmo para o coronel da marinha, qual o sentido de tudo isso? Sua esposa, suas armas, sua sexualidade secreta? Simplesmente não tiene sentido.
O restante, ou seja, Carolyn e Jane, apesar do drama de Carolyn ser bastante humano, sua conclusão termina ambígua sem conclusão real, sendo ela uma tipa que vive de aparências e de consumismo barato, Jane é uma guria reclamona metida a emo que odeia seus pais por não ter recebido atenção suficiente, um tipo de personagem que não me agrada como já devem saber, seu arco de personagem é um tanto vazio e contraditório, ela se odeia porque se sente insegura e desconta essa insegurança nos pais(uau 97% dos zoomers). Contudo o personagem de Lester Burhman(Kevin Spacey) merece uma menção, seu personagem é profundo e tem nuances psicológicas, seu drama e conclusão são belíssimos, com ele ao final entendendo o valor da sua família e de tudo que construiu se arrependendo de suas escolhas, isso é, seria se não fosse pelo final.
Beleza americana é um tanto polarizante, por um lado me agrada o drama do protagonista, por outro há muitas pontas soltas e coisas que ficaram de fora do roteiro, sua crítica é até certo ponto válida já que pode ser analisada desde diversos espectros políticos e a mensagem em si também não sei se é positiva ou negativa, por um lado Lester finalmente aprende a viver, praticando esportes, tendo uma vida mais tranquila ao mesmo tempo que consegue lograr parte dos seus sonhos resgatando essa essência de se estar vivo, no entanto essa mensagem é um tanto anulada quando o mesmo protagonista usa de drogas e prostitutas. O que dá um tom trágico já que a única pessoa que se importou, pelo menos por alguns minutos, com Lester foi exatamente uma dessas.
É uma obra interessante e me fez lembrar outras obras similares como Casino ou Irmãos Karamazov, que são melhormente executadas:
fico com um:
6/10
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Indeed an American beauty
Posted : 9 years, 8 months ago on 21 August 2014 09:05
'American Beauty' is indeed an American beauty! What can I say? I doubt 'Fight Club' will be as good in my opinion and I can say that this is one of those rare times where the Academy Awards have got it right!
This movie is so amazing, I had to decide the king of movies between 'Memento' and 'American Beauty' and personally I prefer 'Memento' but hardly!
The movie makes sense at the end and it all fits together! The protagonist Lester (Kevin Spacey) is married to Carolyn (Annette Bening) and they have a daughter Jane (Thora Birch). Lester falls for Jane's friend Angela (Mena Suvari) and Jane falls for Ricky (Wes Bentley) while Carolyn falls for another man and cheats on her husband. Ricky at first films Jane and then she asks him to kill her father.
Kevin Spacey is amazing in the lead role! His dialogue is amazing and his acting skills are top-notch. The rest of the cast are also wonderful! Mena Suvari is in the right movie and so are the rest of the cast!
Alan Ball has written a masterpiece which Sam Mendes has masterfully directed! And the ending is so shocking and unexpected but similar to 'Memento', they give a sneak peak earlier in the movie that it will happen at some point! And 'American Beauty' happens to be my second favourite movie ever! Which do you prefer? 'Memento' or 'American Beauty'. To each his own!
This movie is so amazing, I had to decide the king of movies between 'Memento' and 'American Beauty' and personally I prefer 'Memento' but hardly!
The movie makes sense at the end and it all fits together! The protagonist Lester (Kevin Spacey) is married to Carolyn (Annette Bening) and they have a daughter Jane (Thora Birch). Lester falls for Jane's friend Angela (Mena Suvari) and Jane falls for Ricky (Wes Bentley) while Carolyn falls for another man and cheats on her husband. Ricky at first films Jane and then she asks him to kill her father.
Kevin Spacey is amazing in the lead role! His dialogue is amazing and his acting skills are top-notch. The rest of the cast are also wonderful! Mena Suvari is in the right movie and so are the rest of the cast!
Alan Ball has written a masterpiece which Sam Mendes has masterfully directed! And the ending is so shocking and unexpected but similar to 'Memento', they give a sneak peak earlier in the movie that it will happen at some point! And 'American Beauty' happens to be my second favourite movie ever! Which do you prefer? 'Memento' or 'American Beauty'. To each his own!
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American Beauty review
Posted : 10 years, 3 months ago on 18 January 2014 08:58
A visually beautiful film that is an experience that will stay with me for a very long time. Crazy experiences are told in the suburbs.
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American Beauty review
Posted : 10 years, 9 months ago on 17 July 2013 04:58
An acerbic, darkly comic critique of how social conventions can lead people into false, sterile and emotionally stunted lives, "American Beauty" is a real American original. Multilayered, bracingly resourceful and tweaked to push its many brash ideas to the edge and beyond, this independent-minded feature represents a stunning card of introduction for two cinematic freshmen, screenwriter Alan Ball and director Sam Mendes.
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American Beauty review
Posted : 11 years, 9 months ago on 18 July 2012 02:26
Wow, American Beauty is not just a satire of the American suburbs, but also a caricature of the whole world. Aren't we all really like this inside? I believe the characters shown in the film are really the sort of people that we cannot explain or we have them hidden somewhere at the back of our minds, while some have bought it forward, others haven't. Anyway, the Burnham's are probably the most dysfunctional family since the Sawyer's from the 70's, or maybe third to the Sitcom family. I believe the characters are not too complicated to understand and what they go through totally shows their maturity of their mind. Carolyn leads her to believe that she is the victim, even though she's not and Jane thinks that Ricky is a great person, even though he's not. I think it's all the effects of the drugs, and it has made him devoid of emotions and understanding. Also, I believe Jane to be completely confused about what's wrong and what's right and she picks the one she finds attractive.
Anyway, American Beauty is widely considered one of the greatest films of modern times and I can't help agreeing to it. It tackles issues that can be tackled but cannot be presented in such a brilliant manner as this one. The sexuality, repression, depression, loneliness, happiness, alienation, life, death and all that. I personally am a big fan of all these subjects because I can relate to it, and not just the fake-happiness, the-world-is-fine-and-nothing-is-wrong-with-it attitude many films adopt. This is almost-realistic and captures most of the feelings accurately, or at least the ones I could identify. In all, after watching this film don't be surprised if you come up with many different analysis and interpretations. Remember, this is one of those open-ended movies we get once in a-while!
From the cast, Kevin Spacey, Annette Benning, Wes Bentley and Chris Cooper were truly phenomenal in their roles as Lester Burnham, Carolyn Burnham, Ricky Fitts and Frank Fitts, respectively. I kinda found it funny when I read somewhere that the latter is gay. I think Frank was just confirming what he saw. And it proved to be wrong. Or maybe he really is, you know, in the closet. From the supporting, Mena Suvari and Thora Birch were just OK, nothing memorable and just handled their characters barely.
All in all, I don't think my analysis, or point of view of the film, holds up against the others and if you want to, you can either prove me right or wrong. American Beauty is indeed a great film but I have to see it one more time to add it to my great movies list!
8.4/10
Anyway, American Beauty is widely considered one of the greatest films of modern times and I can't help agreeing to it. It tackles issues that can be tackled but cannot be presented in such a brilliant manner as this one. The sexuality, repression, depression, loneliness, happiness, alienation, life, death and all that. I personally am a big fan of all these subjects because I can relate to it, and not just the fake-happiness, the-world-is-fine-and-nothing-is-wrong-with-it attitude many films adopt. This is almost-realistic and captures most of the feelings accurately, or at least the ones I could identify. In all, after watching this film don't be surprised if you come up with many different analysis and interpretations. Remember, this is one of those open-ended movies we get once in a-while!
From the cast, Kevin Spacey, Annette Benning, Wes Bentley and Chris Cooper were truly phenomenal in their roles as Lester Burnham, Carolyn Burnham, Ricky Fitts and Frank Fitts, respectively. I kinda found it funny when I read somewhere that the latter is gay. I think Frank was just confirming what he saw. And it proved to be wrong. Or maybe he really is, you know, in the closet. From the supporting, Mena Suvari and Thora Birch were just OK, nothing memorable and just handled their characters barely.
All in all, I don't think my analysis, or point of view of the film, holds up against the others and if you want to, you can either prove me right or wrong. American Beauty is indeed a great film but I have to see it one more time to add it to my great movies list!
8.4/10
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American Beauty review
Posted : 12 years, 6 months ago on 12 October 2011 06:21
A light movie with a tragic end. A story of an american family that ends up in a tragedy. A story of lies, deception and suspicion. The epilogue of the movie has completed shifted the mood while I was going through the movie.
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American Beauty review
Posted : 12 years, 7 months ago on 31 August 2011 12:29
I am so proud to have this film in my collection. It's a fantastic story, the characters couldn't have been played better and the soundtrack is perfect. I often find myself quoting from this movie, Kevin Spacey is brilliant.
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One of my favorite movies
Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 27 August 2010 01:24
I already saw this movie but since it was a while back, I was quite eager to check it out again. In fact, I remember it very well when I first saw this movie. I actually had the pleasure to see it in the movie theater when it was released and, back then, I have to admit that I was seriously blown away by the whole thing. Indeed, I thought it was such a great movie. Seriously, it is not very often that I came across such a movie which really deserved all the praises it received and what I enjoyed the most was the tone. Basically, even though there was a lot of bleakness in this story, it was often quite hilarious as well and the balance between bliss and despair was rather pitch perfect. The other thing I loved about this movie is that all the characters were just fascinating to behold, even if Annette Bening’s character could have been more developed but it was fortunately not a major issue. Concerning Sam Mendes, he delivered here one of the very best directing debuts which was quite awesome but it had its downside as well since, like Orson Welles with ‘Citizen Kane’, he might never be able to reach such heights in his career ever again. It's such a pity that this movie's legacy will be forever tainted by Kevin Spacey's personal downfall. Anyway, to conclude, it is still after all these years one of my favorite movies, it is a great classic and it is definitely worth a look.
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American Beauty
Posted : 14 years ago on 19 April 2010 06:22
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.
Starring Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Chris Cooper, Thora Birch, Mena Suvari, Wes Bentley.
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