American Beauty: Review

American Beauty is a movie which revolves around depressed, average, middle-aged Father Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) whom decides to make important changes in his life after falling in love with his daughter's friend Angela (Mena Suvari). Although this sounds fairly basic and mundane, this is only because it's difficult to properly describe the story of American Beauty because it's not as clear and straightforward as many other classic movies. The mentioning of Kevin Spacey alone however should be a good enough reason to watch this interesting and incredibly entertaining masterpiece. 

Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey)

The title 'American Beauty' may be slightly misleading, and people might be put off by it's fairly boring sounding name. But the movie is not only surprisingly hilarious at times, but also deeply philosophical and emotional. I personally believe the title comes from the fact that different ideals of beauty are presented throughout, such as Lester's opinion that it is embodied within a young attractive girl like Angela, contrasted with his daughter Jane's (Thora Birch) infatuation with her recluse neighbour Ricky (Wes Bentley), and how these perceptions change along the course of the film. 

Don't be fooled though. This all sounds like a stereotypical romantic-comedy plot, but the truth could not be further from this. Controversial topics such as homophobia and unfaithfulness are presented prominently, along side numerous comedic scenes involving the bitterly cynical Lester. Kevin Spacey won an Oscar for his performance in American Beauty, and to say it was well deserved would not be giving him enough credit. 

The only thing I was slightly unsure of was whether or not I was a huge fan of the ending. Not to spoil anything, but the ending wraps up rather quickly. Now, there is a lot of building up to it, and it's not the biggest twist I have ever seen, but once a certain point happens the film is over within a few minutes. The consistent narration by Kevin Spacey's character added immensely to the experience though, and was funny yet bitter from start to end. 

Verdict
I would understand if you haven't seen American Beauty, as I only got around to watching it today 14 years after it's release, but there really is no excuse not to if you are aware of it. Put simply, it is one of the most surprisingly enjoyable films I have seen, and possibly a new favourite of mine.   8.5/10

"I feel like I've been in a coma for the past 20

years...and I'm just now waking up."