Critic Reviews
American Beauty (1999) Rank 5 Reviews
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based on (357) reviews
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Cinephiles
American Beauty, directed by British theater director Sam Mendes (Cabaret, The Blue Room) and written by Alan Ball, is a film which focuses on a suburban-American family, portraying its characters' dysfunctional relationships as a direct symptom of their ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Cinephiles
eFilmCritic
My family's a thousand degrees more functional than the Burnham's, sure, but when watching American Beauty, you almost get the feeling like you're watching people you know act on their true desires...like a daydream. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at eFilmCritic
DVD Times
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is having the worst type of mid-life crisis - He hates his mundane job, he has lost the connection between himself and his trophy wife Carolyn (Annette Bening) and his teenage daughter Jane (Thora Birch) no longer seeks his ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at DVD Times
The DVD Archives (Will Penley)
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is miserable. His job is meaningless, his marriage is falling apart and he hates his life. He doesn't get along well with his wife Carolyn (Annette Bening) or his daughter Jane (Thora Birch). Things begin to turn upside ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at The DVD Archives (Will Penley)
The Onion A.V. Club (Scott Tobias)
Outside of Steven Spielberg's fantastical vision, suburbia usually serves as a dumping ground for filmmakers who spurn either its neat, flawlessly manicured lawns (Blue Velvet, Edward Scissorhands) or its overdeveloped, decaying grotesquerie (Happiness, ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at The Onion A.V. Club (Scott Tobias)
Montreal Film Journal (Kevin N. Laforest)
Lester Burham (Kevin Spacey) hates his life. Where has the fun of his youth gone? Things used to be so easier, and now he's trapped in a boring office job, which he leaves only to return to his alienating suburbia neighborhood to a wife (Annette Bening) ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Montreal Film Journal (Kevin N. Laforest)
Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
What American Beauty has to say isn't pretty, at least not in the conventional fashion, but it is a brilliant, exhilarating piece of filmmaking. It may even be the best mainstream film of the year thus far, and by mainstream I mean produced by a major ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
Apollo Movie Guide (Elspeth Haughton)
The classic American white-collar male encounters his "mid-life crisis," and learns a valuable lesson. This film debut by director Sam Mendes is a treasure filled with warmth, humour, truth and sadness. There's a bit of American Beauty in all of us. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Apollo Movie Guide (Elspeth Haughton)
CinCity Movie Reviews
American Beauty is a strange movie indeed. It's the story of a middle-aged working stiff (Spacey), who has lost his interest in almost everything in life. I'm sure there are virtually millions of Americans who can relate to that. He has a bitch for a ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at CinCity Movie Reviews
Slate (David Edelstein)
Early in American Beauty, Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), a weary reporter for a media magazine, masturbates in the shower while informing us in voice-over that we're witnessing the highlight of his day. He peers through tired eyes out the window at his ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Slate (David Edelstein)
Cinematter (Matt Williams)
What is normal? What is ordinary? What is beautiful? American Beauty proposes that appearances are nearly always deceiving, and there's always more to see if you just look closer. Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is burnt out. At forty-two years old, he's ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Cinematter (Matt Williams)
Dark Horizons (Garth Franklin)
Believe the hype because its true. This is certainly one of, if not the best film of the year. Going in I wasn't expecting much, I mean a tale of a man having a middle-age crisis sounds kind of boring doesn't it? Thankfully I was pleasantly surprised. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Dark Horizons (Garth Franklin)
El Criticon (Antonio Méndez Casanova)
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) es un hombre de mediana edad que está sufriendo una profunda crisis. Las relaciones con su esposa Carolyn (Annette Bening) van de mal en peor y ya no se encuentra a gusto en ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at El Criticon (Antonio Méndez Casanova)
Sun Newspapers of Cleveland
Mendes shows it more stylishly, embracing the seemingly normal Burnham family -- bored magazine writer Lester (Kevin Spacey), materialistic real-estate agent Carolyn (Annette Bening) and wise teen daughter Jane (Thora Birch) -- with a camera focusing on ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Sun Newspapers of Cleveland
Blunt Review with Emily Blunt
Lester's un-loving wife, Carolyn (Annette Bening) is an anal retentive bitch hag without a droplet of joy in her pseudo-yuppy life. She's hell bent on moving up in her profession and is losing her grip, quickly. She tries to hypnotize herself into ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Blunt Review with Emily Blunt
DVDnett.no
Akkurat nå sitter jeg her med en klump i halsen og en slags sår følelse i brystet, den samme jeg hadde etter at jeg hadde sett American Beauty for første gang, like etter at den kom ut, på en kino like ved Times Square i New York. Det er nesten ikke ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at DVDnett.no
Walter Frith
Next door to the Burnham family live the Fitts. There is the teenage son Ricky (Wes Bentley), a drug dealer with a deceiving and clean cut appearance and shining personality. His father is a right wing gung ho marine (Chris Cooper) who is a bigot and ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Walter Frith
kids-in-mind
Lots of sexual innuendo including references to masturbation, homosexuality and sex between a teenager and an adult. A couple has sex with thrusting, her legs up in the air and sex talk (but only her bare legs and his bare back are seen). ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at kids-in-mind
FOCUS Online
Ein ereignisloses Leben in der Vorstadtwüste, verheiratet mit einem Drachen (Annette Bening), von der Tochter (Thora Birch) gnadenlos verachtet und im Job kurz vor der Kündigung – Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) hat genug von diesem Alptraum: Er ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at FOCUS Online
FilmHead.com
Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening play Lester and Carolyn Burnham. Lester writes for a magazine and Carolyn has a lucrative career in real estate. Everything is perfect in their lives except that they have no feelings for each other, and their daughter, ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at FilmHead.com
digitallyOBSESSED.com (Joel Cunningham)
From mid-summer 1999 up until the Oscars® in March 2000, the one film I kept hearing was a lock for an Oscar® nod was American Beauty. I heard people praise the acting, the directing, the cinematography, and most of all, the script. When I finally saw ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at digitallyOBSESSED.com (Joel Cunningham)
The BigScreen Cinema Guide - Reader Reviews
A dark comedy about a suburban family rocked by the urge to get out of the suburban rut they're in. Stars Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at The BigScreen Cinema Guide - Reader Reviews
Detroit News (Susan Stark)
It's hard to know how mainstream audiences are going to take a film like "American Beauty," which is much easier to admire than it is to ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Detroit News (Susan Stark)
SPLICEDwire (Rob Blackwelder)
Every time I see a new Kevin Spacey movie, I expect the world from him, and every time he delivers the galaxy. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at SPLICEDwire (Rob Blackwelder)
filethirteen.com
I was one of the lucky ones. I got to see "American Beauty" about a month before it was released to the general public. It's a remarkable film delving into the nature of one man's rise from white collar suburban hell into the clarity and beauty of the ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at filethirteen.com
Absolute Write's PAN & SCAN
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is a man who lives the ideal American fantasy: career, family, house in the burbs. But beyond that facade, he is a man whose life is about to experience the ultimate mid-life crisis. He continues his dead marriage to wife ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Absolute Write's PAN & SCAN
Guess the Gross
I've only seen it once, and that's all I'll ever need. This movie makes its point so clearly and poignantly that one needn't rewind it to catch the minor details. Kevin Spacey wakes up after forty and some odd years to realize that he isn't living life, ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Guess the Gross
World Socialist Web Site (German)
Bis zu einem gewissen Maß ist die unangebrachte Begeisterung der Filmkritiker für diesen Film und auch die insgesamt wohlwollende Aufnahme durch das Publikum verständlich, aber auch etwas zufällig. Nach der Schiesserei in der Columbine Highschool und ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at World Socialist Web Site (German)
Anthony Leong's MediaCircus
At the age of 42, Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey of "Hurlyburly") is a complete burnout, wandering through his pathetically uneventful life in a catatonic daze. As a media buyer at a major advertising firm, he passes his days in his cubicle, calling ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Anthony Leong's MediaCircus
World Socialist Web Site
Lester Burnham is a middle aged magazine writer on the verge of losing his job. He lives in an immaculate suburb with his real estate agent wife Carolyn, who considers her husband a failure and won't allow him to touch her, and his teenage daughter ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at World Socialist Web Site
LeisureSuit.net
It tells the story of Lester Burnham, a family man and self-described loser who's alienated from his teenage daughter Jane (Thora Birch) and materialistic, career-minded wife Carolyn (Annette Bening, who gets the year's best line: "When I was your ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at LeisureSuit.net
The J Man Times
In the Entertainment Weekly video review of American Beauty, the question is asked (in minor criticism) "does there really have to be a murder at film's end? Wouldn't it be braver, less dramatically convenient, to let these lives unravel on?" Of ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at The J Man Times
Home Theater Info
Lester (Kevin Spacey) may have started out embracing his life but now he drifts along like so much flotsam. Love has left his life. His wife Carolyn (Annette Bening) tries her best to project the appearance of happiness and perfection that she has let ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Home Theater Info
Flipside Movie Emporium
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is a typical family man who slaves through his nine-to-five at a media-marketing magazine. He has an almost nonexistent relationship with his teenage daughter Jane (Thora Birch), who seems like any other misunderstood ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Flipside Movie Emporium
The Land of Eric (Eric D. Snider)
And that's pretty accurate. "American Beauty" is compelling to watch, full of black humor, evocative imagery and wrenching sadness. It creates more of a mood than an actual theme or message, though even that mood is difficult to describe. You have to ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at The Land of Eric (Eric D. Snider)
Shadows on the Wall (Rich Cline)
From the opening moment we know we're in the hands of gifted, assured, focussed filmmakers. Everything about American Beauty, from the camera work (framing, colours, lighting, editing) to the dialog and performances all imply complex meaning and subtext. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Shadows on the Wall (Rich Cline)
AboutFilm.com (Jeff Vorndam)
American Beauty is one of the best films I have seen so far this year. I give it an A-. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at AboutFilm.com (Jeff Vorndam)
Reviews by John (John Haywood)
have mixed feelings about "artsy" films. The good ones are as complex and fascinating as any great art. The bad ones tend to be pointlessly weird. Fortunately, while "American Beauty" may be pretentious, it's more than strong enough to back up that ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Reviews by John (John Haywood)
Daily-Reviews.com (Shay Casey)
Three Movie Buffs (Patrick Nash)
One would have to search long and hard to find a recent movie that is as powerful and as funny as American Beauty. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Three Movie Buffs (Patrick Nash)
DVD Authority.com (Matt Brighton)
Meet Lester Burhnam (Kevin Spacey). Lester is your average, ordinary guy. He's married with a child, Jane (Thora Birch). His first admission to us is that he'll be dead in a year. It's interesting to say and even more interesting to hear...I mean how ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at DVD Authority.com (Matt Brighton)
DVD Authority.com ("Fusion3600")
In a town that seems like any other town, lies a street that seems like any other street, which is where Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) lives. Burnham is a man who looks like most other men, a businessman who lives in the suburbs with his ambitious wife ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at DVD Authority.com ("Fusion3600")
Boxoffice Magazine
Quite correctly honored with five Oscars for its unsettlingly dark and compelling reflection of American society's almost pathological dysfunction, "American Beauty" is a modern classic which will continue to grow in reputation for years (unlike other ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Boxoffice Magazine
Images (Gary Johnson)
Recently, American suburbia has been placed under the microscope by American filmmakers. Movies such as The Ice Storm, Happiness, and Election have suggested that a certain hollowness has taken root and spread like cancer throughout suburbia. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Images (Gary Johnson)
FilmHead.com (Matt Heffernan)
The opening shot of Billy Wilder's Sunset Blvd. shows William Holden's body floating in a pool. Then you hear him begin to narrate the film, which is told in flashback until his character's death. Many films have used this device, but most of them failed ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at FilmHead.com (Matt Heffernan)
Movielocity Movie Reviews (Blake Kunisch)
There's only so much that can be said about any one particular film. American Beauty is one of those films. No matter how much you praise it, no matter how many people you tell to see it, no matter what you do, it's just not enough. In ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Movielocity Movie Reviews (Blake Kunisch)
Christian Pyle
Just as life looks its bleakest, Lester finds a strange salvation in Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari), a teenage friend of Jane's. Watching Angela perform as a cheerleader, Lester has a surreal epiphany that launches him on a midlife crisis. Before long, he ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Christian Pyle
That Cow (Andrew Bradford)
From the start, we are treated to interesting decisions. A video flash-forward. That moody music. The masturbation scene. The use of the color red. It all sets the mood for what is to come. And how it builds from there! We are looking right into the ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at That Cow (Andrew Bradford)
Greg King
Yet another biting satire that savagely deconstructs the notion of wholesome family values in the heartland of American suburbia. As an exploration of dysfunctional families, the erosion of family values and the souring of the American dream, American ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Greg King
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner)
Lester and Carolyn Burnham, the characters at the rotting core ofAmerican Beauty, lead lives of quiet desperation.Lester (Kevin Spacey) has grown bored with his job at an advertising trade magazine, the spark is long gone from his ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner)
Jigsaw Lounge (Neil Young)
Let's not get carried away with this one. American Beauty is a great script, taken to its limits by a flawless ensemble cast, and elevated even higher by Thomas Newman's terrific score. It's clearly one of the year's American Beautymost interesting and ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Jigsaw Lounge (Neil Young)
Criminy Pete's Knee Jerk Spoilers
Kevin Spacey used to be play a character on the old CBS series "Wiseguy." I never watched the show, but I caught a rerun once in which he was so furious at somebody that he actually threatened to 'eat his children.' If that's not a sign of an ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Criminy Pete's Knee Jerk Spoilers
Juicy Cerebellum (Alex Sandell)
ester Burnham's (Kevin Spacey) life is a mess. He can't stand his job. His wife (Annette Bening) is more interested in clipping the hedges than she is with making love to him. His daughter (Thora Birch) is saving up all her money for breast ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Juicy Cerebellum (Alex Sandell)
MovieEye.com (David Litton)
And then I revisited "American Beauty"; once, and then again soon after, as a means to find some sort of escape into a world that is not far from the one in which I live. It's a world where the corporate life is a suffocating plastic bag put over our ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at MovieEye.com (David Litton)
Needcoffee.com
Lester (Spacey) is a man with a problem. His life sucks. He's forty-two, he's stuck in a marriage that is the opposite of bliss with his polyurethane wife (Bening), his daughter (Birch) thinks he is an utter loser, and his job is going absolutely ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Needcoffee.com
Deranged Video Dude (Robert Wurth)
"Look closer" is the tagline for the film American Beauty. This is exactly what this film does. It opens with what on the surface appears to be any ordinary family. In most respects, they are any ordinary family - and that's the point. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Deranged Video Dude (Robert Wurth)
DVD Verdict (Sean McGinnis)
American Beauty. 1999 Academy Awards. Nominated eight times. Winner of five. Best Picture. Best Actor. Best Director. Best Screenplay. Best Cinematography. Also swept the British version of the Oscars, the Bafta awards. Not to mention a slew of others. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at DVD Verdict (Sean McGinnis)
The Movie Insider (Steven Taylor)
After tearing down our false beliefs in that ever-elusive American beauty, it's nice to have Ricky and Lester help us realize that true beauty doesn't reside in our swell suburban homes, materialistic collections, or anything else money can buy. No, ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at The Movie Insider (Steven Taylor)
Anchorage Press (Brenda Sokolowski)
Spacey as Lester is the perfect embodiment of a cuckold: not only is he looked down upon by his success-oriented wife and contemptuous teenage daughter, but even at work he finds himself having to defend his worth to a 25-year-old efficiency expert named ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Anchorage Press (Brenda Sokolowski)
Frankie Paiva
I think that if any of us have learned a lesson from all of the movies that have come out during this past year it's that too much hype is a bad thing. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Frankie Paiva
Edward Johnson-Ott
Midway through "American Beauty," a young man obsessed with videotaping asks a new friend if she'd like to see the most beautiful thing he ever filmed. He shows her a video of an empty plastic grocery sack caught in a breeze. With a brick wall behind it ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Edward Johnson-Ott
Tiscali UK
He's middle-aged, with a stroppy 16 year old daughter called Jane (Thora Birch), a picture-perfect estate agent wife Carolyn (Annette Bening) who's far more turned on by career targets, a long-term job suddenly threatened by corporate stream-lining and a ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Tiscali UK
Shay Casey
The above plot summary doesn't remotely do justice to the numerous subplots and characters in "American Beauty," and I will touch on several of those later on, but I begin by centering on the character of Lester Burnham because the actor playing him has ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Shay Casey
John Beachem
He quits his job, starts working out and smoking pot, buys his dream car, and drives his wife even further over the edge. She has, in fact, become so distanced from Lester that she's now having an affair with her realestate rival, Buddy Kane. Next door ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at John Beachem
Akiva Gottlieb
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) isn't a bad guy. But as we learn through his opening narration, he lives in a nice house in a small town, and within a year he will be dead. His marriage to real estate agent Carolyn (Annette Bening) is almost nonexistent, ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Akiva Gottlieb
Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)
Mendes shows it more stylishly, embracing the seemingly normal Burnham family -- bored magazine writer Lester (Kevin Spacey), materialistic real-estate agent Carolyn (Annette Bening) and wise teen daughter Jane (Thora Birch) -- with a camera focusing on ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)
Soundwaves Cinema (John Stanley)
AMERICAN BEAUTY is a beauty of a film about America. But it's not really about anything beautiful. It's about many things ugly and secret hidden away beneath our shimmering way of life.
"Beauty" is only skin deep in this glimpse into middle-class ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Soundwaves Cinema (John Stanley)
Movie Gazette (Gary Panton)
One of the best movies of the 90s. An absolute beauty. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Movie Gazette (Gary Panton)
Steve Rhodes
"My wife and daughter think I'm this gigantic loser," Lester admits with hopeless acceptance.His sarcastic, bitch of a wife, Carolyn (Annette Bening), is an obsessivecompulsive real estate agent, who cleans houses for sale in her slip, lest she get a ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Steve Rhodes
Dustin Putman
To summarize the premise is to trivialize its multilayered and clearlydefined characters, and the wholly unpredictable story developments, but here goes. Like Robert Altman's most impressive work (1975's `Nashville,' 1993's `Short Cuts'), `American ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Dustin Putman
Film Blather (Eugene Novikov)
"I will sell this house today."
In my reviews I try to make gentle recommendations rather than telling you what to see or what not to see. I realize that we all have different tastes and I cannot predict what my audience will like and what they will ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Film Blather (Eugene Novikov)
CinemaZone.dk
I American Beauty skal man ikke kradse særlig meget i overfladen, før man opdager dens hæslige sandhed. Lester og hans karrierebesatte kone Carolyn, var nemlig engang lykkelige, men det er evigheder af dårlig kommunikation, afsporede forhåbninger og ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at CinemaZone.dk
Film Frat
In the critically acclaimed American Beauty, director Sam Mendes takes the distorted notion of success in our culture and creates an analytic film that gives a disturbing look at what's accepted as "everyday life." There hasn't been such satirical ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Film Frat
filmcritic.com (Christopher Null)
At last, a movie with no likable characters that is nothing short of a joy to watch. Let’s see if American Psycho can top that! American Beauty chronicles the last year in the life of 42 year-old hack magazine writer Lester Burnham (Spacey), ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at filmcritic.com (Christopher Null)
Home Theater Info (Doug MacLean)
Black Comedy: A middle-aged man, facing the doldrums of a boring, suburban life, sets out to reinvent himself, no matter anyone's reaction, after his daughter's flirtatious teenage friend reignites his long dormant passion for living. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Home Theater Info (Doug MacLean)
Brandon Herring
In the history of movies, some really good movies have come out. They have been memorable in our minds, and make us think about them even to this day. They can be 100 years old, to only a year old and still be a great film. Sometimes they are so good it ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Brandon Herring
Movie-Vault.com (Matthew Coats)
Sam Mendes, who directed this masterpiece, had previously directed a revival of "Cabaret" on Broadway, which I happened to see when I was living in New York. It was a great production if you could get over the sight of Alan Cumming wearing practically ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Movie-Vault.com (Matthew Coats)
Entertainment Today (Brent Simon)
Filled with moments of uncommon intelligence, sensitivity, truth and wit, American Beauty is an instant American classic. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Entertainment Today (Brent Simon)
As the Reel Rolls (Malcolm Clark)
It's had a lot of hype, some of which mumbled about ®Oscar. Thus my great expectations, unfulfilled for the first twenty minutes yet finally realized as the digging below the surface of life reached pay dirt. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at As the Reel Rolls (Malcolm Clark)
Cinenganos (Alex Ramirez)
Les recomiendo leer entre líneas, la realidad mostrada es devastadora, demasiado "bella" y "ordinaria" para algunos... ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Cinenganos (Alex Ramirez)
TheMovieBoy.com (Dustin Putman)
American Beauty is a devastating motion picture of unconceivable power. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at TheMovieBoy.com (Dustin Putman)
Empire Magazine (Ian Nathan)
An incisive, deliriously funny and profound vision of the American Dream hitting meltdown. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Empire Magazine (Ian Nathan)
Empire Magazine (Ian Nathan)
An incisive, deliriously funny and profound vision of the American Dream hitting meltdown. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Empire Magazine (Ian Nathan)
watchingmovies.com (Rob McKinnon)
Spacey and Bening are absolutely fabulous ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at watchingmovies.com (Rob McKinnon)
TV Guide's Movie Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
AboutFilm.com (Dana Knowles)
Elegant and gorgeous in its careful progression from satire to poignant drama, AMERICAN BEAUTY celebrates the rewards of the journey instead of glorifying the destination or the prize. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at AboutFilm.com (Dana Knowles)
Jam! Movies (Louis B. Hobson)
It challenges and disturbs as it invigorates and entertains. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Jam! Movies (Louis B. Hobson)
Hollywood Bitchslap (Thom Fowler)
We may finally see the last vestiges of post-war suburban consciousness thrown out the window. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Hollywood Bitchslap (Thom Fowler)
New York Post (Rod Dreher)
American Beauty is a flat-out masterpiece, surely the best movie of the year; indeed, an all-time classic. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at New York Post (Rod Dreher)
Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
The kind of artful defiance that Hollywood is usually too timid to deliver: a jolting comedy that makes you laugh till it hurts. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
Pamela's Film and Entertainment (Pamela Villaflores)
American Beauty is a perfect example of how talent and material can collide to create a felicitous communion of perfection. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Pamela's Film and Entertainment (Pamela Villaflores)
Arizona Daily Star (Phil Villarreal)
Above all, "American Beauty" is about finding peace and a sense of wonder in the least likely of places, such as your inner torment or, failing that, perhaps a floating plastic bag. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Arizona Daily Star (Phil Villarreal)
UK Press Association (--)
Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
"American Beauty" is a comedy because we laugh at the absurdity of the hero's problems. And a tragedy because we can identify with his failure--not the specific details, but the general ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Boxoffice Magazine
The tagline for Sam Mendes' feature film debut reads, "...look closer," a mantra that Mendes repeats over and over as he dissects the modern American family. Lester and Carolyn Burnham (Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening) are a couple living the American ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Boxoffice Magazine
Moovees.com (Jay Tierney)
Every once in a while a film comes along out of nowhere and completely knocks you on your ass. For me, American Beauty was exactly this type of film. It is a true and uncompromised masterpiece, and it also represents the exact reason I love to go to the ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Moovees.com (Jay Tierney)
rec.arts.movies.reviews (John Sylva)
Greg's Previews at Yahoo! Movies (Greg Dean Schmitz)
Buzz (Tanya Marsh)
Flipside Movie Emporium (Michael Scrutchin)
And, for awhile now, whenever someone talks about "beauty," I'll be thinking of a plastic bag on a quiet winter day, dancing in the wind. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Flipside Movie Emporium (Michael Scrutchin)
Jamey Hughton's Movie Views (Jamey Hughton)
So I Saw This Movie... (John Halbert)
Film Threat, Hollywood's Indie Voice
American Beauty is the story of one average family that turns out to be not so average upon closer inspection. Lester Burnham (Spacey) is an average family man, who decides one day to make some changes in his boring, uneventful life. These changes ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Film Threat, Hollywood's Indie Voice
Projectionist (Sean Caszatt)
iofilm.co.uk (The Wolf)
As a thumbnail analysis of the middle-class American psyche, Alan Ball's script is a devastating attack. It is also extremely funny. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at iofilm.co.uk (The Wolf)
eFilmCritic.com (Scott Weinberg)
The world's most honest sitcom. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at eFilmCritic.com (Scott Weinberg)
Mr. Brown's Movies (Michael Dequina)
Wildly funny and unpredictable. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Mr. Brown's Movies (Michael Dequina)
Movie-Page.com review
Poor, poor Lester. At age 42, he is stuck in a dead-end job, a meaningless marriage, and a love-less family. Every single day is just one more step towards the end of his life. He has nothing to look forward to besides his morning shower/jerk-off session. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Movie-Page.com review
Digital Monkey Box - DVD review
A few years ago American Beauty was the darling of the Academy Awards. It currently appears in numerous college text books as an example of both good storytelling and filmmaking, or at least it did in books for the worthless media classes I took. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Digital Monkey Box - DVD review
** Shrubbery Review -- American Beauty **
Every time he's in a movie, I gain respect for him. I've liked him ever since The Usual Suspects, but it seemed like he usually played psychos-take Se7en for example. He was great, eerily confident and cold-blooded, but he only showed up near the end of ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at ** Shrubbery Review -- American Beauty **
filmsgraded.com (Brian Koller)
First time director Sam Mendes and first time
screenwriter Alan Ball combine forces to make
a really weird comedy. "American Beauty" is
full of transparently normal characters who
are actually destined for the looney farm.
There's a power gay ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at filmsgraded.com (Brian Koller)
The Oscar Guy (Wesley Lovell)
Swimming to Casablanca - sprint reviews
Who, or what, is the beauty in AMERICAN BEAUTY? I think it is the ironic beauty of commerical and material things, which is everywhere in American society, especially prevalent in "white" suburbia. As in AMERICAN BEAUTY it sometimes results in people ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Swimming to Casablanca - sprint reviews
Cineclub-Filmkritik
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) ist ein deprimierter Familienvater. Seine Frau Carolyn (Annette Benning) will keinen Sex mehr mit ihm, sein Job schwebt ihn Gefahr und seine Tochter Jane (Thora Birch) kann ihn nicht ausstehen. Er fühlt sich ständig ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Cineclub-Filmkritik
At-A-Glance Film Reviews
American Beauty is not unlike a movie Billy Wilder might make, were he still making movies today. It's set in suburban America and penetrates beneath the surface gloss to the dark passions and obsessions lying repressed. American Beauty is all about the ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at At-A-Glance Film Reviews
Needcoffee.com - Movie Review
Lester (Spacey) is a man with a problem. His life sucks. He's forty-two, he's stuck in a marriage that is the opposite of bliss with his polyurethane wife (Bening), his daughter (Birch) thinks he is an utter loser, and his job is going absolutely ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Needcoffee.com - Movie Review
IndependentCritics.com (TC Candler)
There is a longing in this film... A longing to hold on to beautiful moments and memories just a little longer than we are usually allowed. This film wistfully captures that aching desire to live inside our memories and dreams because they are much ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at IndependentCritics.com (TC Candler)
Movie Reviews UK
There are many, many films out there that concern themselves with the fabled mom's apple-pie family unit. It's easy to grasp why filmmakers, and by extension audiences, are so captivated by this topic; it allows us to gaze upon a mirror image of ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Movie Reviews UK
Christian Spotlight on the Movies
American Beauty is the winner of several Oscars from 1999. Critics worldwide have praised this film for its technical expertise and great storytelling. From the acting to script to musical score to message, it is true that there is much to appreciate ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Christian Spotlight on the Movies
The Cincinnati Enquirer (Margaret A. McGurk)
For a dire tragedy about dying spirits, American Beauty is surprisingly funny. But then, almost everything about this film is a surprise. Who would have imagined that a writer best known for television sitcoms could produce such a profoundly subtle, ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at The Cincinnati Enquirer (Margaret A. McGurk)
Xiibaro Productions (David Perry)
I'm not the sentimental type, so it is quite the rarity that I am truly touched by a film. When most moviegoers are having epiphany moments at Good Will Hunting and Patch Adams, I'm always singing the praises of some cynical film that is as far from ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Xiibaro Productions (David Perry)
BBC Films
Lester (Spacey) and his over-ambitious realtor wife Carolyn (Bening) used to be happy and in love, but now they hate spending time together and endure their lives for the sake of daughter Jane (Birch). On top of that, computer journalist Lester despises ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at BBC Films
BBC Films (Almar Haflidason)
All sorts of wonderful movies are appearing on DVD. It does tend though to be the noisier action epics that get proper attention when it comes to 5.1 coding. Noise is fun, but then so are subtle effects that build an enveloping atmosphere around you. On ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at BBC Films (Almar Haflidason)
Ultimate Movies! Review
In my reviews I try to make gentle recommendations rather than telling you what to see or what not to see. I realize that we all have different tastes and I cannot predict what my audience will like and what they will dislike. But in the case of American ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Ultimate Movies! Review
Scott's Movie Reviews (Scott Mantz)
Ah, the American Dream. It conjures up images of the suburbs, family, kids, a dog, two cars, a house, and a white picket fence--but word play is a funny thing. What people don't seem to realize is that the dream is just that--a dream. It doesn't exist. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Scott's Movie Reviews (Scott Mantz)
Palo Alto Weekly (Jeanne Aufmuth)
Marvelous filmmaking on every level. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Palo Alto Weekly (Jeanne Aufmuth)
CinemaSense.Com: Movie Reviews of the Heart
Our lives are tinged with illusion, pretense, and fear. American Beauty explores the dark, comic, tragic, and ironic aspects of our dread to truly know ourselves. We pretend we are someone we’re not. We desperately cling to the sweet lies we force ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at CinemaSense.Com: Movie Reviews of the Heart
crocoPuffs
American Beauty is one of those films that gets better the more times you see it. To be honest, the first time I saw it I thought it was very good, but since then I've come to think of it as one of the best movies of the last decade. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at crocoPuffs
Media-Assault.com (Sean Caszatt)
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) hates his life. He hates his job as a writer for an advertising magazine. He's grown apart from his family. His wife (Annette Bening), a real estate saleswoman, is "joyless" and his teenage daughter (Thora Birch) ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Media-Assault.com (Sean Caszatt)
DVD Talk (Jeremy Kleinman)
This is an awe inspiring film. While some of the film's notions of beauty may seem difficult to comprehend, the confluence of these notions, the cinematography of the film and some truly incredible performances renders this film a truly beautiful film ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at DVD Talk (Jeremy Kleinman)
PopMatters (Rhonda Baughman)
American Beauty is by far and away one of the best movies of 1999, and be that as it may; it wouldn't be the same without Kevin Spacey. Lester Burnham (Spacey) is an aging advertising rep on the edge of self-discovery or mental collapse, perhaps even ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at PopMatters (Rhonda Baughman)
iAfrica.com (Andrew Burden)
It's a perfect day for letting go ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at iAfrica.com (Andrew Burden)
MovieMaze (Thomas Straßer)
Films on Disc (Stuart J. Kobak)
American Beauty stands up to home theater scrutiny rather well. It's devastating comedy and nasty ramrod drama. The film strikes its target with the accuracy of an Olympic archer. Even when we are laughing, an adult standard of honesty is pivotal to the ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Films on Disc (Stuart J. Kobak)
Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
Mendes turns his attention here to the Anywhere in America, suburbs, a favorite place for sitcoms, where the middleclass are always ripe for social criticism. In this case, the film hones in on two dysfunctional suburban families living next to each ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
Apollo Guide (Elspeth Haughton)
American Beauty speaks to the husbands and wives who fight over dinner; to the worker slapping his knee along to the film's soundtrack; to the guy in the back row who yells out “Amen to that!â€; and to the girlfriend who blushes when her date's arm ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Apollo Guide (Elspeth Haughton)
DVD MovieGuide
Logically, I should have greeted the acclaim accorded American Beauty with glee, especially when Oscar time came. After all, few more than I have bemoaned the Academy's stodgy and unadventurous choices over the years, and for something as distinctive and ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at DVD MovieGuide
Movie Hell (Michael J. Legeros)
Great but not *that* great. The strengths of this likely (art?) crowd-pleasing pitch-black comedy include command performances by Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening, a never-quite-predictable plot, a bonafide murder mystery in there as well, at least a ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Movie Hell (Michael J. Legeros)
EmanuelLevy.com (Emanuel Levy)
Brit Sam Mendes makes an impressive directorial debut with a glossy, well-acted satire of the American burbs, a theatrically stylized meditation that combines the zeitgeist of 1950s Eisnehower with that of 1990s Clinton. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at EmanuelLevy.com (Emanuel Levy)
Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
I somehow liked the film more than I probably should have. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
DVDTown.com (John J. Puccio)
funny, thoughtful, sardonic, poignant, provocative, horrifying, and utterly satisfying. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at DVDTown.com (John J. Puccio)
Oregon Herald (Jamie Peck)
Matt's Movie Reviews (Matt Easterbrook)
Hilarious, cynical, disturbing, yet emotionally satisfying. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Matt's Movie Reviews (Matt Easterbrook)
Killer Ducky (--)
Movie Guys with Jeff & Dave (Jeffrey K. Howard)
Annette Bening gives the performance of her career. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Movie Guys with Jeff & Dave (Jeffrey K. Howard)
Stephen Graham Jones
Most movies willingly yield to even minimal analysis--fall apart in your hands, into a set of easily identifiable conventions, character types, etc. Not so with director Sam Mendes' American Beauty, the story of what the suburban American dream looks ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Stephen Graham Jones
Harvey's Movie Review (Harvey O'Brien)
Mesmerising suburban satire from theatre director Sam Mendes and screenwriter Alan Ball featuring Kevin Spacey in a commanding performance as a husband and father undergoing a mid-life crisis which eventually becomes a redemptive epiphany. As a ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Harvey's Movie Review (Harvey O'Brien)
Gary Jones
There are moments of utter delight in the screenplay by Alan Ball (another firsttimer), which shares some thematic similarities to David Fincher's Fight Club even the leading characters' names (Lester Burnham and Tyler Durden) have a similar ring. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Gary Jones
Louis Proyect
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) enjoys all the outward trappings of middle-class success in the aptly but ironically titled film "American Beauty": a beautiful wife named Carolyn (Annette Bening) with her own real-estate business and a teenage daughter ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Louis Proyect
Cozzi fan Tutti Reviews 'n' Rants
In 1986, I sat in the third row for a performance of LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT on Broadway. The marquee star was Jack Lemmon, but it was the young actor portraying Jamie, the eldest son, who stole the show. He was a little known New Jersey-born (and ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Cozzi fan Tutti Reviews 'n' Rants
Audiovideorevolution.com
When Lester introduces himself to us, he’s living a life of quiet desperation (punctuated by the occasional through-clenched-teeth warfare) in upper-middle-class suburbia with wife Carolyn (Annette Bening) and teenaged daughter Jane (Thora Birch). ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Audiovideorevolution.com
Wolfpack Productions (Sujit 'Chief' Chawla)
American Beauty was a wonderfully written, wonderfully acted film dealing with the lives of a few people on Robin Hood Trail in a small town somewhere in America. From the neo nazi neighbor, to the gay couple down the street, to a seemingly intact ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Wolfpack Productions (Sujit 'Chief' Chawla)
Reel Movie Critic (George O. Singleton)
Cinema em Cena (Pablo Villaça)
Rolling Stone
The fall film season kicks off in high gear with American Beauty, a comedy of shocking gravity that comes front-loaded with advance raves and Oscar talk. Now the question is: Since buzz can lead to backlash - check those Blair Witch spoilsports - can ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Rolling Stone
Murali Krishnan
Suburban America is often seen as a symbol of comfortable banality. In actuality, it is not immune to the dissatisfaction, directionlessness, and dysfunction that afflict modern life.
The film opens with an aerial view of the seeming typical and ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Murali Krishnan
Ronald L. Strong
With that piece of dialogue, we are fully introduced to Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), a 42 year old man trapped within his own life. Lester works for an advertising agency. His growing dissatisfaction with his job is only one of the mid-life crisis he ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Ronald L. Strong
Bob Bloom
He hates his job, is distant from his wife and daughter, has no interests, no friends, no passion. The highlight of his day is masturbating during his morning shower.Lester is invisible. He gets no enjoyment out of life nor does he give any.That all ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Bob Bloom
Jon Ridge
Watching Sam Mendes's "American Beauty" is like taking a roller coaster tour through suburbia - gleeful yet observant that something awry may be happening in each house of each neighborhood. "American Beauty" is the latest 90's view of dysfunctional ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Jon Ridge
Homer Yen
The wheels are set in motion and the film wonderfully strips any conventions that we have of suburbia and gives us some very strange yet sad characters with whom we can empathize. For Lester, it's time to let loose. He no longer cares about anything and ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Homer Yen
Homer Yen
The wheels are set in motion and the film wonderfully strips any conventions that we have of suburbia and gives us some very strange yet sad characters with whom we can empathize. For Lester, it's time to let loose. He no longer cares about anything and ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Homer Yen
Decent Films Guide - faith on film
Some movies have a moral. I say that as a mere statement of fact, with no implication that either having or not having a moral necessarily makes a movie better or worse. Some movies have a moral; American Beauty — and this is also a mere observation, ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Decent Films Guide - faith on film
Suad Bejtovic, Bosnian Movie Critic
Kevin Spacey doesn’t like calling his new movie, American Beauty, "dark", especially knowing that he played the role of a serial killer in one of the darkest movies ever, Seven. This is, says Spacey, a very funny movie. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Suad Bejtovic, Bosnian Movie Critic
ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
American Beauty doesn't trailblaze a path into hitherto untouched cinematic territory, but its presentation of vivid characters in interesting situations makes the story seem fresh. In part because it's not a complete downer and in part ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
Reel Movie Critic (George Singleton)
Home Page Genres
American Beauty ***1/2 Rated "R"
Reviewed By George O. Singleton
Crossing the line
You may think you have control of your life because you’ve accomplished certain goals. While true, often when we get ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Reel Movie Critic (George Singleton)
Movie Mom's review
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is a 42-year-old man who has lost touch with anything that made him feel alive. His wife Carolyn (Annette Benning) is a realtor, so highly focused that she is clenched. His daughter Jane (Thora Birch) is a sullen teenager. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Movie Mom's review
Crazy for Cinema
After I saw this film, it took me a week to get my thoughts together. This isn't a film everyone will like. It took me a long time to come around. It's a powerful story with an intense message that, frankly, quite disturbed me. It also made me laugh ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Crazy for Cinema
Mike D'Angelo
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey, "Die üblichen Verdächtigen" / "Verhandlungssache") ist der typische amerikanische Durschnittsbürger, den sein Leben nur noch langweilt. Seine Frau Carolyn (Anette Bening, "Mars Attacks", "Ausnahmezustand") tyrannisiert ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Mike D'Angelo
TV Guide Entertainment Network, Movie Guide
Black comedy of the deepest, richest darkness laid over an aching meditation on the atrophy of dreams not so much deferred as unformed, unarticulated and lost in the shuffle; this chronicle of suburban families imploding in slow motion contains genuine ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at TV Guide Entertainment Network, Movie Guide
Movie Habit (Marty Mapes)
Although it comes close, American Beauty is not flawless, but it’s problems are almost never character-related. Sometimes the good-looking cinematography seems a little staged. A few plot point setups are a little too coincidental. But because the ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Movie Habit (Marty Mapes)
Big Picture Big Sound (Joe Lozito)
Every so often a film comes along that takes a shot at the suburbs. Built on a foundation of paper-thin appearances and material possessions, suburban America is always an easy target. The angst-ridden youth, the disfunctional marriages, the automotive ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Big Picture Big Sound (Joe Lozito)
Movies for Guys
This movie takes a detailed look at these peoples lives, which is a kind way to say that it moves kind of slow at points. If you're after a rip-roaring action flick then don't bother seeing ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Movies for Guys
Q Network Film Desk (James Kendrick)
"American Beauty," the directorial debut of Sam Mendes, the Broadway director who recently staged Nicole Kidman in "The Blue Room," is a completely assured debut, a visually extravagant, entrancingly dark comedy about how people fall apart and build ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Q Network Film Desk (James Kendrick)
ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
Over the years, many films have taken a dark look at the supposedly perfect ideal of a white picket fence, a little house, and a nuclear family. For many, the suburban life is the American dream. For others, however, it can turn into a twisted nightmare ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
In Film Australia
Just as the film begins we learn that Lester Burnham, animated as a middle-aged extravagant by Kevin Spacey, is dead, and that he is reflecting via voice over on a time in his life in which he cut loose from his depressing lifestyle as a hopeless father, ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at In Film Australia
Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
Lester Burnham (Spacey) hits his midlife crisis when his job is in jeopardy, his wife won't have sex with him, and his daughter despises him. His new neighbors include an ultra-rightwing nut and his dope dealing son who has an annoying ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
The Tech (MIT) (Vladimir Zelevinsky)
DreamWorks seems to be learning lessons -- but they’re entirely the wrong kind of lessons. After some early good-to-middling films doing good -to-middling business, it seems that the strategy should be simple: make better movies. Instead, they seem to ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at The Tech (MIT) (Vladimir Zelevinsky)
Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
What American Beauty has to say isn't pretty, at least not in the conventional fashion, but it is a brilliant, exhilarating piece of filmmaking. It may even be the best mainstream film of the year thus far, and by mainstream I mean produced by a major ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
MovieFreak.com (Dan Scully)
From the opening glide over Lester Burnham's neighborhood accompanied by Lester's confident narration, American Beauty wraps it's loving arms around the viewer and shows them a whole other side to themselves. Sam Mendes' masterpiece was acclaimed by ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at MovieFreak.com (Dan Scully)
Deep Focus (Bryant Frazer)
In the second scene, dad is heard in voiceover, describing his life in suburbia -- a life that, he explains, ended at the age of 42, making the entire film a flashback to the events leading up to his death. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Deep Focus (Bryant Frazer)
Wolf Entertainment Guide (William Wolf)
It starts with Alan Ball's superb screenplay. It evolves into what is, at least as of mid-September, the best, most mature American film of 1999. "American Beauty," justifiably a hit that created a buzz at the Toronto International Film Festival, is a ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Wolf Entertainment Guide (William Wolf)
Entertainment Insiders (Craig Roush)
Philosophers throughout the ages have been plagued by questions of reality, normality, and regularity; in essence, the integrity of things as we perceive them to be. The earliest and most famous analysis of this subject is Plato's dialogue Allegory ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Entertainment Insiders (Craig Roush)
JoBlo's Movie Emporium ("JoBlo")
If you are the type of person who appreciates every minute of your life, then you may just enjoy this film to its fullest potential. If you are the type of person who doesn't appreciate every minute of your life or the people around you, then you may ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at JoBlo's Movie Emporium ("JoBlo")
Audio Revolution
When Lester introduces himself to us, he is living a life of quiet desperation (punctuated by occasional through-clenched-teeth warfare) in upper-middle-class suburbia with wife Carolyn (Annette Bening) and teenaged daughter Jane (Thora Birch). Lester ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Audio Revolution
Ain't It Cool Movie Reviews (Harry Knowles)
he world we live in is filled with cynicism and hate. So many that believe in nothing. People that are moving forward each day of their life without so much as a progressive step. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Ain't It Cool Movie Reviews (Harry Knowles)
The Reel McCoy (Patrick McCoy)
Let me start off by stating that this review has thus far given me great trouble. It is difficult indeed to capture into words this multiheaded beast. Not difficult because I find it hard to bring forth accolades or champion this film as a great one, ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at The Reel McCoy (Patrick McCoy)
Xi-online
Suburbia ligt onder vuur. De Amerikaanse buitenwijk moet het de laatste jaren flink ontgelden. Was er vorig jaar de onafhankelijke film Happiness die aan het licht bracht dat bewoners van de architectonische belichaming van de Amerikaanse droom eigenlijk ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Xi-online
Film Quips Online (John R. McEwen)
American Beauty is not your average murder comedy. Director Mendes combines hilarious comic elements with seriously dark undertones. It is a veritable cornucopia of psychological disorders and uncomfortable moments, punctuated effectively with an ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Film Quips Online (John R. McEwen)
Miradas desde el Sur (Leonel Delgado Aburto)
De vez en cuando una pelÃcula de sobrios planteamientos, que no eluden la influencia del serial televisivo, hace que Hollywood demuestre lo "liberal" que puede ser. Hace dos años As good as it gets recomponÃa en tono de comedia el sueño americano de ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Miradas desde el Sur (Leonel Delgado Aburto)
cinEncanto (Pablo del Moral)
Creo que Kevin Spacey es uno de los actores más complejos que trabajan en la actualidad en el cine hollywoodense. Con esto no sólo quiero decir que es un actor brillante, sino que su personalidad, su carisma, evoca niveles de complejidad en sus ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at cinEncanto (Pablo del Moral)
Spirituality & Health (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)
disciple asked the master if there could be anything more wonderful than the beauty of creation. For a long time, the master was silent, then he responded, "Yes, indeed there is." "What can this possibly be?" asked the disciple. The master answered: ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Spirituality & Health (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)
DVD Net (Anthony Horan)
While once-great studios obsess over remakes of old films, reworkings of TV shows and the legendarily indefinable “star power,†while entertainment new magazines and TV shows descend rapidly into a pit of utter tackiness and snide gossip, while giant ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at DVD Net (Anthony Horan)
Scott Renshaw
This, first and most important: Kevin Spacey is brilliant. That's not exactly news, since Spacey has been brilliant on a regular basis for several years, but in AMERICAN BEAUTY he burns himself into an incredibly difficult role. There is a ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Scott Renshaw
Joy Wyse
The catch phrase for American Beauty is `When you've got nothing to lose, you might as well risk everything. At first glance Lester Burnham (Spacey) appears to have everything to lose. His is the typical suburban life, with a lovely home, wife, daughter, ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Joy Wyse
Insights (sieteocho)
Now there are some movies that are worth watching even after you�ve read the spoilers, and there are some movies which are somewhat lessened when you�ve read the spoilers. For the latter category, there are shows with surprise twist endings, like ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Insights (sieteocho)
Planet Sick-Boy (Jon Popick)
am Mendes's slick and smooth American Beauty doesn't age well. It's daring in that it sympathizes with a protagonist who's a pederast though its portrait of an American family in chaos is far from ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Planet Sick-Boy (Jon Popick)
The Boston Phoenix
Nothing beats death for establishing a detached, omniscient point of view, and from the very beginning of Sam Mendes's haunting and accomplished debut feature (and one of
the year's first significant films), it's made clear that its hero, middle-aged, ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at The Boston Phoenix
The Squiz: Cine Philes ("Guido Mezzabotta")
"American Beauty" is a very American film. Perhaps, the most important American film to come around in a long time. It premiered in Los Angeles a few weeks' back to rave reviews. Most of these reviews contained words such as "kinky,' "off beat,' ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at The Squiz: Cine Philes ("Guido Mezzabotta")
The Phantom Tollbooth
What you think of the American emotional and social landscape is largely a product of your own sphere of experience. Around us, in every town grand or humble, there are quiet folk living desperate lives, pinned down by their expectations and exiled from ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at The Phantom Tollbooth
artechock (Ruediger Suchsland)
Filme sind nur eine andere Form von Tagträumen. Mit ihnen betreten wir die Reiche der eigenen Phantasie, Abgründe der Angst und Glückverheißungen, geheim und doch wohlbekannt. Beide genießen wir, beide fürchten wir. Meistens gleichzeitig, denn so ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at artechock (Ruediger Suchsland)
The Nation (Stuart Klawans)
To the list of movie characters who look back on their lives from the Beyond, add Lester Burnham, the 42-year-old, dead narrator of American Beauty. He is a murder victim--so it would seem, to judge from the very broad hints in the opening scene--done in ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at The Nation (Stuart Klawans)
Video Reviews with Joan Ellis
With the quiet confidence of a winner, American Beauty snuck quietly into theaters and stunned opening-night audiences with its power. In expert hands, the film takes risks that allow it to succeed as a profound examination of the loss of self.
Fifty ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Video Reviews with Joan Ellis
ShowBIZ Data
Dreamworks Pictures; A Jinks/Cohen Production; Producers, Bruce Cohen, Dan Jinks; Written by Alan Ball; Directed by Sam Mendes Opens September 15, 1999 Mercilessly wicked in its view of modern suburban America, American Beauty is a surprisingly quirky ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at ShowBIZ Data
Katy Lindemann
Spacey revels in the lead role of Lester Burnham, an everyman of sterile middle-class suburbia, dissatisfied with the current malaise of his life, who experiences an epiphany after catching sight of a nubile young friend of his daughter's, and sets out ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Katy Lindemann
Fotograma.com
Con el impacto de "American Beauty", nos surge la dudad de si la sociedad norteamericana es o se hace. No por favor! Como va a decir esa barbaridad? No, no me refiero a la pelÃcula en sÃ, sino a la fascinación que ha sentido la prensa y el ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Fotograma.com
Critic Doctor (Herb Kane)
"American Beauty comes with an aura of dazzlingly positive reviews - which, I presume, simply reflects the film critics' thirst for something original, irrespective of quality," writes online movie critic, Vladimir Zelevinsky. If you add together all the ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Critic Doctor (Herb Kane)
Philadelphia City Paper (Cindy Fuchs)
It’s a tricky business to leave American Beauty feeling all right, but the film works very hard to make that possible, despite its dismal representation of suburban living. Scripted by first-time screenwriter Alan Ball (who used to write for Cybill and ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Philadelphia City Paper (Cindy Fuchs)
Natural Born Viewers ("Geeky Marcus")
Meet Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), the model family man with a caring wife and a loving daughter. At least that's what we think he is. In reality, he has just been sacked, and is planning to shag his daughter's best friend. His wife Carolyn (Annette ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Natural Born Viewers ("Geeky Marcus")
Salon (Andrew O'Hehir)
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is dead at the beginning of "American Beauty." He tells us so, apparently speaking in voice-over from some unspecific Great ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Salon (Andrew O'Hehir)
Harvey S. Karten
Leo Tolstoy told us that happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. While 90% of us get married, confident that we will be in the former category, statistics prove otherwise. What's unfortunate in that regard is ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Harvey S. Karten
Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
Hilarious, painful and brutally frank. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
Netflix (James Rocchi)
There's so much right -- and so much wrong -- with this lauded, scathing look at suburban discontent. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Netflix (James Rocchi)
Jam! Movies (Randall King)
Peers between the white picket fenceposts of suburbia to reveal emotional toxicity and unexpected grace. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Jam! Movies (Randall King)
Scott Renshaw's Screening Room (Scott Renshaw)
Simultaneously gripping and frustrating, American Beauty is the best film of the year that irritated the hell out of me. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Scott Renshaw's Screening Room (Scott Renshaw)
New York Times (Janet Maslin)
Kevin Spacey in his wittiest and most agile screen performance yet. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at New York Times (Janet Maslin)
A Hollywood Jesus Visual Film Review
Television writer Alan Ball's first produced screenplay introduces us to the chaotic world found on the tree-lined street of Robin Hood Trail, Anytown, U.S.A. Provoked by forbidden passions, Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) decides to make a few changes in ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at A Hollywood Jesus Visual Film Review
Mutant Reviewers From Hell
"Look Closer" American Beauty's tagline states, and it's hard not to. This film just bombards you with images, themes, the color red, and underage nudity. How did they pull that off? I suppose they figured that they'd compromise and show Kevin Spacey ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Mutant Reviewers From Hell
Plume Noire
If there is no horror, literally, in American Beauty, the picture is a gallery of creeps or creepiness. No one is immune or has redeeming values, from the protagonists to the two girls (and classmates) to Budy Kane, the smooth real-estate Czar who is not ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Plume Noire
CandidCritic.com
In order to review this film properly, I felt that it was necessary to discuss certain plot points that may reveal aspects of the film about which readers might not want to know prior to seeing the ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at CandidCritic.com
Movie ram-blings (Ram Samudrala)
The movie is about Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), who sees no point to his existence: he is in a cold and frigid relationship with his wife Carolyn (Annette Bening); he barely talks to his daughter Jane (Thora Birch); and he has just been put on the ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Movie ram-blings (Ram Samudrala)
Movie-Page.com review
There's something classic about the word "American" when it's used in a title. It's appeared in the names of films, fiction, music and many more genres, and gains a certain amount of dignity perhaps from the nomenclature of history: wars and political ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Movie-Page.com review
Megaklik - no nonsense movie reviews in Slovenian
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) je 42-letni mož in oÄe v tipiÄni ameriÅ¡ki družini srednjega razreda. Njegova žena Carolyn (Annette Bening) je perfekcionistka, ki se žre zaradi svojih poslovnih neuspehov, hÄerka Jane (Thora Birch) pa ga popolnoma ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Megaklik - no nonsense movie reviews in Slovenian
Teen Movie Critic (Vivian Rose)
Kevin Spacey stars as Lester Burnham, a man who is a fed up with his life. He's tired of his job, the romance has long since gone out of his marriage, and his daughter Jane (Thora Birch) wants nothing to do with either of her ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Teen Movie Critic (Vivian Rose)
LowComDom Online Film Reviews
Excuse me? This piece of crap got what awards? Best Picture? Best picture of what? Seriously, this is a film about people bickering at each other in every scene. You can watch that on afternoon TV for free everyday. What do we want to go to the cinema to ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at LowComDom Online Film Reviews
The Flick Filosopher's second look
Was American Beauty the single best film of 1999? I can't decide. The second time I watched the film, on a widescreen video screener after it won the Oscar for Best Picture, I thought with horror: I named this sitcom one of my best films of the year? On ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at The Flick Filosopher's second look
DVD Verdict
American Beauty. 1999 Academy Awards. Nominated eight times. Winner of five. Best Picture. Best Actor. Best Director. Best Screenplay. Best Cinematography. Also swept the British version of the Oscars, the Bafta awards. Not to mention a slew of others. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at DVD Verdict
The DVD Report (Britt Gillette)
Kevin Spacey plays the role of Lester Burnham, a middle-aged suburban resident who seemingly lives the American Dream. He and his wife Carolyn (Annette Bening) have a nice house, a beautiful daughter Jane (Thora Birch), and successful careers. But things ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at The DVD Report (Britt Gillette)
Linda Lopez McAlister (c/o inforM Women's Studies)
After two weeks of film festival reviews and two weeks of marathon, I'm way behind in my reviews of newly released feature films in theaters. Yesterday I went to take a look at Sam Mendes' film "American Beauty" and that's a description of this film as ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Linda Lopez McAlister (c/o inforM Women's Studies)
Filmtracks (Christian Clemmensen)
Part of this bewilderment stems from the fact that I love Thomas Newman's styles in general. The majority his scores, such as Shawshank Redemption, The
Horse Whisperer, and Fried Green Tomatoes, each offers ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Filmtracks (Christian Clemmensen)
National Post (--)
allesfilm.com (Thomas Vesely)
Lester Burnham hat einen öden Job, eine kaputte Ehe und ein Haus in der typischsten aller amerikanischen Vorstädte. Wie gut, dass er sich in eine Schulkollegin seiner Tochter verliebt. Der zweite Frühling kann beginnen, aber wie lange wird er ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at allesfilm.com (Thomas Vesely)
ChildCare Action Project
While the central mother in this movie doted over her rose garden, the main thing in *American Beauty* about roses was the rose petals hiding female private parts -- and the petal passed during a kiss from a teen girl to a married man. This movie was ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at ChildCare Action Project
cinEncanto (José Luis Orozco)
Debo reconocer que cuando vi los avances de esta pelÃcula no estaba muy impresionado. Recuerdo que pensé: "Pon a Kevin Spacey para una actuación sobresaliente, dale una comparsa más o menos decente con Anette Benning, añade alguna trama alternativa ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at cinEncanto (José Luis Orozco)
Chicago Reader (Jonathan Rosenbaum)
American Beauty is a brilliant satirical diagnosis of what's most screwed up about life in this country, especially when it comes to sexual frustration and kiddie porn. Or American Beauty is a hypocritical piece of kiddie porn, brilliantly exploiting an ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Chicago Reader (Jonathan Rosenbaum)
Haro Online
According to the producers of American Beauty, the title can take on at least three meanings. It could be the roses that Carolyn Burnam (Annette Benning, The Siege, In Dreams) grows in her front yard, or it could represent Angela (Mena Suvari, American ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Haro Online
Culturekiosque.com's review
American Beauty may seem like one more flick goofing on the suburbs. And it does include plenty of guffaws at the suburban family's expense: it exposes the drunkenness, the furtive masturbation, the passion for lagoon pools and striped sofas. It snickers ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Culturekiosque.com's review
DVDTown (John J. Puccio)
Doesn't it help restore your confidence in the movie industry when an unassuming little film comes along and knocks your socks ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at DVDTown (John J. Puccio)
Movie-Page.com review
One mans struggle to find inner-peace in a jaded, socio-political world seems to be the subject that screenwriter Alan Ball tackles in 'American Beauty'. Ironically, this is a film that encompasses more than just one man. The 'American Beauty' itself is ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Movie-Page.com review
filmtext.com
In guter Erinnerung haben wir " The Icestorm" von Ang Lee. Thema des Films ist der schale Nachgeschmack heruntergewirschafteter Hippieideale, die klaustrophobische Enge amerikanischer Vorortheimeligkeit und die flauseligen Nöte pubertierender Hirne. Die ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at filmtext.com
CineScene.com (Ed Owens)
The worst anyone can be is normal.
The topic of familial dysfunction in America is nothing new. In fact, the last two to three years have seen such a glut of similarly thumbed films that its getting more and more difficult to get excited about a new ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at CineScene.com (Ed Owens)
Screen It! Entertainment Reviews for Parents
Black Comedy: A middle-aged man, facing the doldrums of a boring, suburban life, sets out to reinvent himself, no matter anyone's reaction, after his daughter's flirtatious teenage friend reignites his long dormant passion for living. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Screen It! Entertainment Reviews for Parents
Reviews on the Side (Steven Lekowicz)
The first thing I thought when I saw the poster for this movie was, "Oh. The pasta company is getting into the soft porn business." Then I realized how silly that was and thought, "Nah. They're just getting into made-for-cable movies." Then I hit my head ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Reviews on the Side (Steven Lekowicz)
CineFile : il Cinema in Rete (Alberto Cassani)
A prima vista “American Beauty†può sembrare la storia di una tipica famiglia americana. In effetti quella che ci viene presentata è la tipica famiglia americana di ceto medio-alto: lei agente immobiliare, lui pubblicitario, classica figlia ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at CineFile : il Cinema in Rete (Alberto Cassani)
Film Written Magazine (Andrew Howe)
A film which turns the microscope on the human condition in all its ragged glory. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Film Written Magazine (Andrew Howe)
DVD Town (John J. Puccio)
Doesn't it help restore your confidence in the movie industry when an unassuming little film comes along and knocks your socks off? "American Beauty" is funny, thoughtful, sardonic, poignant, provocative, horrifying, and utterly satisfying. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at DVD Town (John J. Puccio)
The Flick Filosopher (MaryAnn Johanson)
Was American Beauty the single best film of 1999? I can't decide. The second time I watched the film, on a widescreen video screener after it won the Oscar for Best Picture, I thought with horror: I named this sitcom one of my best films of the year? On ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at The Flick Filosopher (MaryAnn Johanson)
The Cranky Critic (Chuck Schwartz)
What do you get when you team a first time screen director (a couple of Broadway hits under his belt) and a first time big screen writer (a couple of TV sitcoms)? Usually Cranky gets a massive headache. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at The Cranky Critic (Chuck Schwartz)
The Flick Filosopher (MaryAnn Johanson)
I think Lester Burnham is destined to become an iconic American character, one with a life well beyond the film that spawned him. As "Forrest Gump," "Norman Bates," and "Mr. Smith," have all become shorthand for, respectively, childlike innocence and ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at The Flick Filosopher (MaryAnn Johanson)
Laramie Movie Scope (Robert Roten)
It's a black comedy that's supposed to be about the hollowness of the American dream, but in fact ... it reveals the moral and intellectual bankruptsy of Hollywood. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Laramie Movie Scope (Robert Roten)
Political Film Society
The "soap opera" is a very American genre, so we should not be surprised to learn that films depicting enigmas faced by ordinary Americans will captivate many Americans. The Ozzie & Harriet days of simple problems are gone, so the late 1990s are ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Political Film Society
CineScene.com (Kristen Ashley)
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) and Carolyn (Annette Bening) have a sham of a marriage. Lester is deeply unhappy with home and work life. Carolyn is driven to acquiring material possessions and displaying uptight behavior so extreme that, after viewing the ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at CineScene.com (Kristen Ashley)
Film Written Magazine (Jaime N. Christley)
DVD Review e-zine
Showered with awards and nominations, Sam Mendes’ "American Beauty" has reached a status that hardly allows you to view the picture without any preconceived notions. The fact that the DVD release had been postponed for a long time now further adds to ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at DVD Review e-zine
MoviesMatter.com
This film presents the powerful and moving true story of the tragic crash of the Marshall University football team plane in November, 1970 and the heroic efforts to rebuild the Marshall football program that followed it. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at MoviesMatter.com
Mr. Cranky
Somebody please tell director Sam Mendes that a man going through a mid-life crisis is hardly an original idea. Toss in a little "Lolita" and a bit of "War of the Roses", and suddenly somebody thinks "American Beauty" has all the makings of an original ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Mr. Cranky
www.filmrecensiepagina.nl (Wilko de Bruin)
American Beauty, van regisseur Sam Mendes (1999)
Lester Burnham ( Kevin Spacey ) zit in een midlifecrisis, veroorzaakt door het leven dat hij lijdt. Zijn ambitieuze vrouw, zijn puber dochter Jane werken niet echt mee. Het gebeurt allemaal in een ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at www.filmrecensiepagina.nl (Wilko de Bruin)
Reeling Reviews (Robin and Laura Clifford)
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey, "The Usual Suspects") is having a mid-life crisis and has less than a year to live. His wife Carolyn (Annette Bening, "The Grifters") and daughter Jane (Thora Birch, "Patriot Games") think he's a loser. He's become ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Reeling Reviews (Robin and Laura Clifford)
NY Rock
Early ads for American Beauty put the movie in the same league as such film-class classics as The Graduate, Ordinary People, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – a cuckoo combo if ever there was one and of course not entirely accurate either. Lolita ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at NY Rock
Looking Closer (Jeffrey Overstreet)
With the quiet confidence of a winner, American Beauty snuck quietly into theaters and stunned opening-night audiences with its power. In expert hands, the film takes risks that allow it to succeed as a profound examination of the loss of self.
Fifty ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Looking Closer (Jeffrey Overstreet)
Globe and Mail (Rick Groen)
This is definitely a knife-to-the-heart movie -- the kind whose potent effect is easy to feel yet hard to describe. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Globe and Mail (Rick Groen)
Film Threat, Hollywood's Indie Voice
The DVD premiere for this year's winner of the Best Picture Academy Award (among four other statuettes) had been a highly anticipated event--that is, until word came out this summer that the disc would not include the film's now-legendary lost scenes, ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Film Threat, Hollywood's Indie Voice
MediaCircus (Anthony Leong)
After winning the People's Choice Award at the 1999 Toronto International Film Festival, director Sam Mendes' debut feature "American Beauty" is expected to be a strong contender for an Academy Award nomination. This often cynical, black-humored, and ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at MediaCircus (Anthony Leong)
Moviola (Jorge Avila Andrade)
Belleza Americana es el espejo de una sociedad que ha querido vivir engañada durante décadas y que ahora comienza a despertar a la realidad ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Moviola (Jorge Avila Andrade)
A Guide to Current DVD (Aaron Beierle)
Believe it or not, I actually missed "American Beauty" in its theatrical run. This wait was further lengthened when Dreamworks made the decision to release the VHS first (I'll hold back my anger about that decision...). One night when I couldn't sleep, I ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at A Guide to Current DVD (Aaron Beierle)
Entertainment Insiders (Jeremy Benson)
The multiple award winning (Oscars for Best Actor Kevin Spacey, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematographer for Conrad L. Hall, and Best Original Screenplay for Alan Ball) portrayal of dysfunctional American suburban family. With no support from ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Entertainment Insiders (Jeremy Benson)
LeisureSuit.net
You're going to be hearing a lot more about the new DreamWorks release American Beauty. Many critics will be calling it a masterpiece, and at the very least you'll be seeing Kevin Spacey getting a nomination (and quite possibly a win) when Oscar time ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at LeisureSuit.net
Pat Canavan
It's the tenth month of the year, and one has to be wondering when a film worthy to be nominated for best picture will be released. It wasn't like this last year, when "Saving Private Ryan" had been released in the summer, and set the standard for the ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Pat Canavan
George Wu
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is in a loveless marriage, has a daughter who hates him, and is on the verge of being fired from his job. His id is reawakened however when he encounters and obsesses over Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari), a pretty blond who is ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at George Wu
MoviePhan2
There have been plenty of other movies about the shallow values of suburbanites, but few have been as consistently -- and bitterly -- funny as "American Beauty," a fairly astonishing debut film from British stage director Sam Mendes. In the same way ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at MoviePhan2
Radio Free Entertainment
A dark comedy that glimpses into the horrific, mundane lives of a suburban family burdened with modern-day existence. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Radio Free Entertainment
David Sunga
The only person who seems able to appreciate beauty and freedom and life is the person most deprived of it: a dopedealing teen from across the street who is practically imprisoned by a domineering, bullying father. When Lester embarks on a mad scramble ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at David Sunga
Edwin Jahiel
If there is no horror, literally, in American Beauty, the picture is a gallery of creeps or creepiness. No one is immune or has redeeming values, from the protagonists to the two girls (and classmates) to Budy Kane, the smooth real-estate Czar who is not ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Edwin Jahiel
James Sanford
There have been plenty of other movies about the shallow values of suburbanites, but few have been as consistently -- and bitterly -- funny as "American Beauty," a fairly astonishing debut film from British stage director Sam Mendes. In the same way ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at James Sanford
Michael Dequina
Leo Tolstoy told us that happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. While 90% of us get married, confident that we will be in the former category, statistics prove otherwise. What's unfortunate in that regard is ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Michael Dequina
Reel.com
One of the strongest assets of Sam Mendes' outrageously overrated American Beauty is its magnificent, evocative score by Thomas Newman that adds an air of magic and bittersweet irony to the otherwise mostly cliché-ridden proceedings. Newman, the son of ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Reel.com
Jerry Saravia
Watching Sam Mendes's "American Beauty" is like taking a roller coaster tour through suburbia - gleeful yet observant that something awry may be happening in each house of each neighborhood. "American Beauty" is the latest 90's view of dysfunctional ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Jerry Saravia
Sridhar Prasad
I have lived in suburbia for most of my life. Most of the time I just walk out the door, and walk to my car, and get in and not realize that things are moving around me. Things are actually happening behind me, but I can never see them, because most of ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Sridhar Prasad
Michael Redman
Call it middle-age crisis or spiritual awakening, suddenly there is a realization that they've been the walking undead for a l-o-o-o-n-g time and they want to do something about it. For women it's often triggered by the biological alarm clock ringing or ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Michael Redman
Reel.com
Sam Mendes' American Beauty takes an intriguing look at a unstrung family living in suburban hell, taking us on an alternately hilarious, disturbing, and thought-provoking journey that reaches a frenzied point of no return. This soundtrack begins with a ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Reel.com
Chicago NewCityNet (Ray Pride)
ts dazzling look and sarcastic script impress some; and Thomas Newman's dour yet somehow sparkly score is the kind of intelligent complement that director Sam Mendes has consistently brought to sitcom writer Alan Ball's original script. Some reviews have ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Chicago NewCityNet (Ray Pride)
Susan Granger
There have been plenty of other movies about the shallow values of suburbanites, but few have been as consistently -- and bitterly -- funny as "American Beauty," a fairly astonishing debut film from British stage director Sam Mendes. In the same way ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Susan Granger
San Francisco Chronicle (Edward Guthmann)
`American Beauty'' is a wonder of a film -- a luminous, beautifully executed drama that gathers the best cast of the year and marks a sensational screen debut for Sam Mendes, the British theater director of ``Cabaret'' and ``The Blue ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at San Francisco Chronicle (Edward Guthmann)
San Francisco Chronicle (Edward Guthmann)
`American Beauty'' is a wonder of a film -- a luminous, beautifully executed drama that gathers the best cast of 1999 and marks a sensational screen debut for Sam Mendes, the British theater director of ``Cabaret'' and ``The Blue ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at San Francisco Chronicle (Edward Guthmann)
David N. Butterworth
And, as Spacey's narration informs us at the beginning of the film, he's not going to make it to 43 either.That admission sets the scene for "American Beauty," a dark and disturbing black comedy with an almost painful emphasis on the black part. It's a ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at David N. Butterworth
Mac VerStandig
With the quiet confidence of a winner, American Beauty snuck quietly into theaters and stunned opening-night audiences with its power. In expert hands, the film takes risks that allow it to succeed as a profound examination of the loss of self.
Fifty ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Mac VerStandig
Light Views, Reviews & Previews (John Larsen)
It wasn't love at first sight. It was lust. When he first saw her, she was more than the nubile 17 year-old best friend of his daughter. She was a goddess, capable of stopping time so that a moment with her would seem like eternity. Her lips were full ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Light Views, Reviews & Previews (John Larsen)
Village Voice (J. Hoberman)
Talkin' 'bout that generation, September brings two richly metaphoric songs of male Boomer pathos: the midlife-crisis dark comedy American Beauty, and the sanctimonious baseball-veteran weepie, For Love of the Game. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Village Voice (J. Hoberman)
F.LM - Texte zum Film
Ein süßes all-american-blond Mädchen räkelt sich in einem Meer von roten Rosenblättern - suggestives Rot, aufregendes, heißes Rot, ein Rot, dass an Herz und Blut erinnert und kombiniert mit weißer (unbefleckter) Haut Reinheit und Sünde ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at F.LM - Texte zum Film
Alex Ioshpe
American Beauty' is one of those films that leave a huge emotional impact that remains for days after you have seen it. Seldom have I seen such marvelous characters, each somehow representing an important puzzle piece of our modern society. And it is not ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Alex Ioshpe
Planet Confusion
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey, "Die üblichen Verdächtigen" / "Verhandlungssache") ist der typische amerikanische Durschnittsbürger, den sein Leben nur noch langweilt. Seine Frau Carolyn (Anette Bening, "Mars Attacks", "Ausnahmezustand") tyrannisiert ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Planet Confusion
Jump Cut. Magazin für Film und Kritik
American Beauty, der Debütfilm des britischen Theaterregisseurs Sam Mendes, ist ein kluger Unterhaltungsfilm. Auf geschickte Weise vermeidet er es, seinen Zuschauern den Spaß zu verderben - und das mit einer Themenpalette von Homphobie über komplett ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Jump Cut. Magazin für Film und Kritik
Mixed Reviews: The Arts, The World, and More (Jill Cozzi)
In 1986, I sat in the third row for a performance of LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT on Broadway. The marquee star was Jack Lemmon, but it was the young actor portraying Jamie, the eldest son, who stole the show. He was a little known New Jersey-born (and ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Mixed Reviews: The Arts, The World, and More (Jill Cozzi)
The UK Critic (Ian Waldron-Mantgani)
But don't take my word for it. My view is in the minority, and "American Beauty" looks set to win the top Oscars, having been named best picture of the year by the Online Film Critics Society and at the Golden Globes. Me, I think it unfolds as a ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at The UK Critic (Ian Waldron-Mantgani)
Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
Unsettling, unnerving, undefinable, "American Beauty" avoids quick and easy categorization. A quirky and disturbing take on modern American life energized by bravura performances from Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening, "Beauty" is a blood-chilling dark ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
Movies 101 (Robert Glatzer)
Starting sometime in the sixties, probably under the influence of the great European and Japanese filmmakers, American film writers and directors began making films that needed a whole new kind of acting, a kind that depended on what you might call the ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Movies 101 (Robert Glatzer)
MovieMusings.com (Ken Rosenberg)
In American Beauty, middle-aged suburbanite Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) suddenly realizes that the conventional values and trappings of middle class life to which he has unquestioningly devoted himself are simply a crock. Lester lets his inner child ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at MovieMusings.com (Ken Rosenberg)
Boston Review (Alan A. Stone)
When I went to see American Beauty, winner of this year’s Golden Globe for drama, a young man seated behind me kept explaining the film to his companion in urgent whispers as he tried to follow its many twists and turns. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Boston Review (Alan A. Stone)
txreviews.com (Curtis Edmonds)
Aside from a hearty helping of Lust, American Beauty mostly steers clears of the deadly sins. What we see are a laundry list of tacky little suburban sins. Stalking the Cute Neighbor with a Video Camera. Trading in the Camry without Asking the Wife. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at txreviews.com (Curtis Edmonds)
Club Culture
Une famille d'un quartier bourgeois dans le Mid-West des États-Unis est à la veille d'un bouleversement. Lester, homme dans la quarantaine, sa femme Carolyn, agente en immobilier et leur fille Thora, jeune adolescente révoltée, vivent des moments ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Club Culture
Film e Dvd
Lester è un quarantenne in piena crisi di mezza età che cerca di sentirsi più giovane nei modi più paradossali... Si invaghisce della migliore amica della figlia, che nel frattempo è spiata da un vicino invadente. La moglie certo non gradisce tanti ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Film e Dvd
Houston Chronicle
"Stunning" hardly begins to convey the effect of American Beauty, the film debut of British theater director Sam Mendes. In search of comparison, we're sent back as far as director Mike Nichols' first two films, The Graduate and Who's Afraid of Virginia ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Houston Chronicle
Kino (Alessandro Bencivenni)
Siamo tutti abituati a ragionare per categorie, a collocare mentalmente un film in un filone, a farne l'epigono o il precursore di altri film. Ciò ci rende impreparati alle vere novità . Ma è davvero difficile classificare in maniera tradizionale ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Kino (Alessandro Bencivenni)
culturevulture.net, Choices for the Cognoscenti
The anomie of suburban life has been done to death in American cinema, but American Beauty is a bitterly funny and beautifully crafted film, even if it does cover a lot of familiar ground. It’s a movie that keeps replaying itself in your mind long ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at culturevulture.net, Choices for the Cognoscenti
DVD Clinic ("Dr. Drew")
If there was movie you had to see in 1999, THIS was it. Featuring a superb ensemble cast of actors and a touching story of self-redemption, American Beauty was unanimously hailed by critics as the best film of the year. Critical acclaim eventually ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at DVD Clinic ("Dr. Drew")
Mark O'Hara
There's something classic about the word "American" when it's used in a title. It's appeared in the names of films, fiction, music and many more genres, and gains a certain amount of dignity perhaps from the nomenclature of history: wars and political ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Mark O'Hara
The Z Review
American Beauty is an incredible, smart, and driven masterpiece. A look through contemporary life in suburban America is revealed through the eyes of Lester Burnham (Spacey). Lester's family includes his real estate selling wife Carolyn (Bening) and his ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at The Z Review
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
No film of the fall season has created a bigger advance stir than "American Beauty," and, for once, the product lives up to its buzz. The film is a dynamite comedy-drama that, unless it stiffs big-time at the box office, should be up for multi-Oscar ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Salon.com (Andrew O'Hehir)
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is dead at the beginning of "American Beauty." He tells us so, apparently speaking in voice-over from some unspecific Great Beyond. He is most certainly dead at the end, when his whole life literally flashes before his eyes ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Salon.com (Andrew O'Hehir)
Cinopsis
Lester Burnham est une homme vide, une larve, un légume humain asservi par une femme qui ne voit en lui qu'un raté qu'elle traîne dans les cocktails. Lester déteste son boulot, à une vie sexuelle d'adolescent avec comme point d'orgue journalier sa ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Cinopsis
Cinemonkey (Pat Holmes)
Suburbia lives in Kevin Spacey's performance as Lester Burnham, the already dead hero of American Beauty. Take a good look at his face and if his smile looks out of place, if you look closer it's easy to trace the tracts of his tears. He has a lovely ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Cinemonkey (Pat Holmes)
The New York Times - Family Movie Guide (Peter M. Nichols)
Deep in weirdest suburbia, Lester Burnham (Mr. Spacey), who is dead, relates how it all ended just when he had pulled the plug on his whole miserable existence and started to make headway as a liberated man, of all things, with a revamped attitude. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at The New York Times - Family Movie Guide (Peter M. Nichols)
Nitrate Online (Gregory Avery)
Rising one morning from the miasma of the sheets on his marriage bed, we see that Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is alone, the other side of the bed being conspicuously vacated. Outside, in the front yard, his wife, Carolyn (Annette Bening), is tending ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Nitrate Online (Gregory Avery)
Plugged In
This is the story of an American tragedy, not beauty. It's about despair. Isolation. Hopelessness. Lester and his wife, Carolyn, are both going through mid-life crises. Lester's involves lusting after his daughter Jane's best friend, Angela. Carolyn has ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Plugged In
filmrezension.de (Tobias Vetter)
Lester Burnham ist völlig unzufrieden mit seinem langweiligen Leben in einem schicken amerikanischen Vorort. Das allmorgendliche Onanieren unter der Dusche ist der Höhepunkt seines Tages. Nicht, daß der Büroangestellte keine Frau hätte, doch die ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at filmrezension.de (Tobias Vetter)
Slant Magazine
am Mendes's slick and smooth American Beauty doesn't age well. It's daring in that it sympathizes with a protagonist who's a pederast though its portrait of an American family in chaos is far from ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Slant Magazine
The (Georgetown) Hoya
Humans never appreciate the true beauty of life until they die. The deceased narrator of "American Beauty," 42-year old Lester Burnham (Academy Award-winner Kevin Spacey, "The Usual Suspects,") imparts this message to the viewing audience of the new ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at The (Georgetown) Hoya
La Movie Boeuf (David N. Butterworth)
For 14 years Lester has been a writer for a crappy media magazine. He's married, unhappily, to Carolyn (Annette Bening), an aspiring realtor who lives the image of success even though she's not really all that good at selling houses. The Burnhams have ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at La Movie Boeuf (David N. Butterworth)
New York Magazine (Peter Rainer)
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) in American Beauty is a big zero with a boring desk job whose highlight of the day is masturbating in the shower. Then he goes through a life change and is supposedly reborn. I say "supposedly" because the new Lester, apart ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at New York Magazine (Peter Rainer)
Lobo Howls (Judith Wolfe)
Kevin Spacey can do no wrong. What a performer. His range of emotions and his ability to physically change in his roles is outstanding (remember him at the end of The Usual Suspects?) I can see a companion Oscar on his mantle in March. Annette Bening ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Lobo Howls (Judith Wolfe)
filmdeculte.com (Robert Hospyan)
Six ans plus tard, qu’en est-il d’American Beauty, auréolé de cinq Oscars (film, réalisateur, scénario original, acteur principal et photographie), premier long métrage d’un metteur en scène venu du théâtre choisi personnellement par Steven ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at filmdeculte.com (Robert Hospyan)
[safe] (Terry Brogan)
Sam Mendes is a theater wunderkind. The man responsible for the phenomenally successful revival of "Cabaret" and who brought a taut tension to David Hare’s weak adaptation of "La Ronde" known as "The Blue Room", makes his feature film directorial debut ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at [safe] (Terry Brogan)
Steve Evans
Yes, and there's so much more. A jet-black satire of suburbia, this cautionary fable with a grim, inevitable climax features a stunning performance from Spacey, as the 42-year-old advertising man who hates his job and shrewish wife (Bening). Seldom does ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Steve Evans
Movieline Magazine
When American Beauty was released last year to rapturous reviews, I expected a modern masterpiece. Instead I found it to be the single most frustrating film I'd ever squirmed through. What a difference a year makes. American Beauty is such an intimate ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Movieline Magazine
DVDRAMA
Comparé au zone 1, l’image du zone 2 d’American Beauty est légèrement en retrait. Les quelques défauts constatés sur le disque américain sont ici renforcés. On retrouve ainsi un master quelque peu poussiéreux (de nombreuses petites tâches ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at DVDRAMA
Time Out
After 14 years working in the same office, Lester Burnham (Spacey) is about to get canned. After two decades married to the same woman, he can't stand her any more. Carolyn (Bening) is no more fond of him. And as for their daughter, Jane (Birch), she's ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Time Out
Eric Walker
AMERICAN BEAUTY follows the path tread by other movies of this sort, from David Lynch's BLUE VELVET to Linklater's SLACKER, or BREAKING AWAY, or even ROBOCOP. The setting of a peaceful, perfect-looking suburban town suggests echoes of Lynch, but rather ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Eric Walker
Crazy for Cinema (Lisa Skrzyniarz)
After I saw this film, it took me a week to get my thoughts together. This isn't a film everyone will like. It took me a long time to come around. It's a powerful story with an intense message that, frankly, quite disturbed me. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Crazy for Cinema (Lisa Skrzyniarz)
Moving Pictuers @ Cin3ma
What can be more typical than a family consisting of a mother, daughter and a father? What is more ordinary than a desktop job, dinner at the same time every day, a daughter that hates you and a wife who has forgotten what the word "sex" means several ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Moving Pictuers @ Cin3ma
Movie Geek Central
Hollywood Report Card (Ross Anthony)
Poetic in its execution, "American Beauty" is a satire on Joe America who hasn't stopped to smell the roses in so many years that the high point of his day is playing with himself in the shower. He ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Hollywood Report Card (Ross Anthony)
The Movie Mom (Nell Minow)
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is a 42-year-old man who has lost touch with anything that made him feel alive. His wife Carolyn (Annette Benning) is a realtor, so highly focused that she is clenched. His daughter Jane (Thora Birch) is a sullen teenager. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at The Movie Mom (Nell Minow)
Matinee Magazine (Chuck Rudolph)
It wants to be an original beauty so much that it doesn't realize just how plain and ordinary it really is. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Matinee Magazine (Chuck Rudolph)
The Net-Monster looks closer at "American Beauty"
Something any viewer of American Beauty must decide is whether the shortcomings of the characters in the film are confined to themselves, or whether director Sam Mendes is implying these character flaws are typical of the current American condition. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at The Net-Monster looks closer at "American Beauty"
Reel.com
American Beauty is a ferociously funny, kick-in-the-groin jaunt through the backyard hell of modern suburbia that clicks along like well-oiled, razor-sharp garden shears ... for about an hour. Unfortunately, it runs two hours. The rub with Sam ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Reel.com
A really nice movie review
The feeling when watching this movie is that it's all a day in the life of Kevin Spacey. If you've seen Usual Suspects, you will know how well this guy can act. He plays Lester Burnham, a man in an unhappy marriage who lives from day to day. His wife, ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at A really nice movie review
IMDB.com
AMERICAN BEAUTY was a feature film debut for its director Sam Mendes. However, it doesn't show on the screen. Mendes confidently deals with camera and uses every trick on his disposal, especially when showing Lester's lust over Angela those are the ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at IMDB.com
San Francisco Examiner (Wesley Morris)
Here we are floating above a series of placid streets populated by symmetrical canopies of oaks and sycamores. Each driveway holds at least one car parked next to a painstakingly manicured lawn, maybe some shrubbery and rose bushes. To our left, there ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at San Francisco Examiner (Wesley Morris)
Jam! Movies (Bob Thompson)
Moves from mirthful to moody and to downright overwrought near the climax. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Jam! Movies (Bob Thompson)
ShowBIZ Data (--)
THE WEEKLY MOVIE REVIEW
In the film, there are no truly likable characters, except for maybe Kevin Spacey, but even that’s a stretch. I don’t consider becoming a self-centered, dope smoker a real plus. And I didn’t buy his character’s quick turnaround at the end either. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at THE WEEKLY MOVIE REVIEW
Off-screen
Basterebbe questa frase e il giudizio sul film sarebbe risolto. Ma il melodramma American Beauty è appunto un melodramma e propria di questo genere, ibrido figliastro tormentato del cinema, è la capacità di mischiare le carte e di far apparire “oro ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Off-screen
UTK Daily Beacon (Nick Tipton)
A family of three - one happy dad, mom and daughter - in a big white house with a pretty red door in the "ideal" family neighborhood. Look closer. Dad is in a constant, deep depression. Mom displays a constant perfect image on the outside when she ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at UTK Daily Beacon (Nick Tipton)
Draxblog Movie Reviews
The script, written by Alan Ball, chronicles the last year in life of Lester Durnham (played by Kevin Spacey), 42-year old man who becomes increasingly unhappy with his life in seemingly idyllic middle-class suburb. He is becoming estranged from his ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Draxblog Movie Reviews
DVD Journal
Kevin Spacey (he won an Oscar) stars as Lester Burnham, a burned-out copywriter treading water in the suffocating mid-life dysfunction of placid suburbia. His wife (Annette Bening — also a winner) is a shrill, hysterical harpy, equal parts Martha ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at DVD Journal
eFilmCritic (Jack Sommersby)
Kevin Spacey's wonderful performance as a frustrated suburbanite looking to reinvent his pathetic, docile existence is the only valid reason to expose yourself to something as annoyingly overstated and criminally overrated as American Beauty. Spacey's ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at eFilmCritic (Jack Sommersby)
Movie Parables (Michael Elliott)
There is nothing beautiful in this American Beauty . ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Movie Parables (Michael Elliott)
Film Values/Family Values (H. Arthur Taussig)
Presents problems for parents: one hero is an unpunished drug dealer, another a successful blackmailer. One father is a murderer; one mother catatonic, another an adulteress. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Film Values/Family Values (H. Arthur Taussig)
James Bowman
Follow your bliss, middle-aged America! Quit your job, speak your mind, buy that muscle car you’ve always wanted. Start smoking pot again. Buff up and start an affair with a teenage girl. You may die for it, but you will die happy. Where have we ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at James Bowman
Bright Lights Film Journal
Okay, American Beauty is shallow, pretentious, smug, condescending, and parochial. It radiates the traditional show-biz contempt for the talent-free slobs who inhabit American small towns and suburbia, cut off from high-grade hemp, cutting-edge video ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Bright Lights Film Journal
Cinema in Focus (Denny Wayman and Hal Conklin)
It is hard to name a sin that “American Beauty†does not include in its well-crafted plot. Creating a world in which a seemingly normal suburban street becomes the scene of a brutal murder, we arrive at that place by walking through the experiences ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Cinema in Focus (Denny Wayman and Hal Conklin)
3 Black Chicks ("Bams")
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), a fortysomething burnout whose highlight of the day is the time he spends with himself each morning in the shower, feels as trapped by his now-loveless marriage to his wife Carolyn (Annette Bening) - a mediocre real estate ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at 3 Black Chicks ("Bams")
3 Black Chicks ("The Diva")
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is 42 years old and on the edge of a mid-life crisis. He is being downsized out of his job, his wife Carolyn (Annette Bening) is more concerned with becoming successful than being a wife and mother. And his teenage daughter, ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at 3 Black Chicks ("The Diva")
Bad Lit.com
And then AMERICAN BEAUTY comes out. In one scene, Thora Birch gets to flash the camera her 16-year-old jugs. The other teenage chick in the movie gets naked, too, but I’m not sure what her age was at the time of filming (and as always I’m not going ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at Bad Lit.com
eFilmcritic.com (Jack Sommersby)
Fancy packaging can't hide its hollow core. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at eFilmcritic.com (Jack Sommersby)
MovieWeb (Joshua "Clark" Bertram)
I once heard it said that American Beauty was a film that “changed everyone’s life? It garnered multiple Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and was hailed by critics as “wickedly funny? “near perfect? and “an artistic masterpiece. ...read the complete American Beauty movie review at MovieWeb (Joshua "Clark" Bertram)
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