American Beauty (Widescreen): Amazon.ca: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, Mena Suvari, Chris Cooper, Peter Gallagher, Allison Janney, Scott Bakula, Sam Robards, Barry Del Sherman, Ara Celi, Conrad L. Hall, Sam Mendes, Christopher Greenbury, Alan Ball, Bruce Cohen, Dan Jinks, Stan Wlodkowski: DVD

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From its first gliding aerial shot of a generic suburban street, American Beauty moves with a mesmerizing confidence and acuity epitomized by Kevin Spacey's calm narration. Spacey is Lester Burnham, a harried Everyman whose midlife awakening is the spine of the story, and his very first lines hook us with their teasing fatalism--like Sunset Boulevard's Joe Gillis, Burnham tells us his story from beyond the grave.
It's an audacious start for a film that justifies that audacity. Weaving social satire, domestic tragedy, and whodunit into a single package, Alan Ball's first theatrical script dares to blur generic lines and keep us off balance, winking seamlessly from dark, scabrous comedy to deeply moving drama. The Burnham family joins the cinematic short list of great dysfunctional American families, as Lester is pitted against his manic, materialistic realtor wife, Carolyn (Annette Bening, making the most of a mostly unsympathetic role) and his sullen, contemptuous teenaged daughter, Jane (Thora Birch, utterly convincing in her edgy balance of self-absorption and wistful longing). Into their lives come two catalytic outsiders. A young cheerleader (Mena Suvari) jolts Lester into a sexual epiphany that blooms into a second adolescence. And an eerily calm young neighbor (Wes Bentley) transforms both Lester and Jane with his canny influence.
Credit another big-screen newcomer, English theatrical director Sam Mendes, with expertly juggling these potentially disjunctive elements into a superb ensemble piece that achieves a stylized pace without lapsing into transparent self-indulgence. Mendes has shrewdly insured his success with a solid crew of stage veterans, yet he's also made an inspired discovery in Bentley, whose Ricky Fitts becomes a fulcrum for both plot and theme. Cinematographer Conrad Hall's sumptuous visual design further elevates the film, infusing the beige interiors of the Burnhams' lives with vivid bursts of deep crimson, the color of roses--and of blood. --Sam Sutherland

Product Description

Marking the feature film directorial debut of award-winning theatre director Sam Mendes this funny moving and shocking journey through life in suburban America follows the trials and tribulations of Lester (Kevin Spacey) and Carolyn (Annette Bening) an upper-middle class couple whose marriage - and lives - are slowly unraveling. Lester s wife hates him his daughter Jane regards him with contempt and his boss is positioning him for the ax. So Lester decides to make a few changes in his life; the freer he gets the happier he gets which is even more maddening to his wife and daughter. But Lester is about to learn that the ultimate freedom comes at the ultimate price. Winner of five Academy Awards: Best Picture Director Actor Screenplay and Cinematography.System Requirements:Starring: Kevin Spacey Annette Bening Thora Birch Chris Cooper Peter Gallagher Mena Suvari and Wes Bentley. Directed By: Sam Mendes. Running Time: 122 Min. Color. This film is presented in "Widescreen" format. Copyright 2000 Universal Distribution Corp.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre:�DRAMA Rating:�R UPC:�667068538229 Manufacturer No:�65382

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Solid and sweet, but... July 29 2010

By Kolyenka K TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:DVD

I like "out there" films, so I was surprised that I didn't like this film a lot. The cinematography is gorgeous, the scenes unique and fascinating, the actors at their best, the lines between on-screen reality and fantasy blurred, the script excellent, but, when it comes right down to it...
Father has lost his way and lost himself somewhere along the road of his life. Mother and Daughter pick and berate and b-tch at Father, and it's oh-so-wearing for the viewer. Daughter meets drug-dealer neighbour boy who has the proverbial "heart o' gold" (but boy is so weird it detracts from the film IMHO). Most of the characters seem to need medication -- for clinical depression as well as for other things. Or maybe the characters are over-medicated?
Either way, while this film has it's moments (the motel scene, the asparagus scene, etc) the ending left a bad taste in my mouth. And no, it wasn't a rose petal.
It's touted as a feel-good movie, but if you're already feeling blue, I doubt this is the movie for you. And if you detest people who have their head up where the sun don't shine, then these characters will make you foam at the mouth.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

Nice film, but over-hyped. Dec 14 2003

By William

This was an interesting, but not spectacular film from 1999. Watching it again recently, I noticed how dull it was to watch - particularly the long drawn out scenes with the neighbour's son and Spacey's daughter.

Is American Beauty really as good as you may have heard? Unfortunately not. The hype that surrounded this film in 1999 made people go and see it. There was also considerable hype surrounding Anette Bening's performance. Let's just say her performance was okay, nothing spectacular.

American Beauty is a good, but over-rated film.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful

AN EXQUISITE AFFIRMATION OF LIFE July 16 2004

By Shashank Tripathi

On the surface, this stunner from Sam Mendes is such a relentlessly bleak look at the vacuity of the supposed "American Dream" that viewers may just turn off to it en masse. And it shows in the acute polarization of reviews here on Amazon.

But if you can be a little less knee-jerk and not shut off all rational thought when confronted with what's disturbingly familiar, you may also find that the film is genuinely, voraciously amusing, and directed with such breathtaking flair that Spacey's bravura performance seems like a career-defining one.

Beneath the surface of all the seeming pettiness in our daily idiosynchrasies, the theme points out, is an entire world of such simple elegance that chortles to be seen and heard, but is neither recognized nor heeded to.

An interesting visual device in the film is the use of windows. Not just a use, but a splurge, come to think of it. Almost everything important happens in front of, around, or through windows. Could this be a metaphor perhaps for self-examination, for viewing one's life from the outside?

What I do not understand is why most films in this genre (Ice Storm, Ordinary People) end with a dramatically tragic finale. Does it take a shattering turn of events to break everyone out of their daily reverie? Something to think about.

Any rate, long story short: an evocative gem you need to own.