American Beauty

December 9, 2004

Rated: R Runtime: 118 min Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Kevin Spacey is amazing. This movie is amazing. However, it’s not for everyone, so keep reading.

Kevin plays Lester Burnham, a writer for a magazine who is heading into one heck of a mid-life crises. We’re talking about the mother of all mid-life crises here not just some “I think its about time I bought a Corvette” phase in the life of a 40-something year old. Lester is beginning to realize that things are just not like they used to be; life is stale, boring, predictable. As he states is, “I didn’t always used to be this numb.” That all changes for him when he sees his daughters girlfriend Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari)… something awakens inside of him… a kind of itch that he just has to scratch.

His obsession with Angela causes him to break out of his daily grind. He quits his job (with quite a bit of flare I might add) and gets a new one flipping burgers at a fast food joint. His job interview for the position is classic! In his quest to figure out what his life is all about he starts to work out and smoke joints, provided to him by his new next-door neighbors son Ricky (Wes Bentley.)

Anyway, his daughter (Thora Birch) also develops a relationship with Ricky to the dismay of her girlfriend Angela. Lesters wife starts seeing someone on the side as well. Basically, everyone is looking for something, though they don’t seem to know what they are looking for or that they are actually looking. Its a train wreck waiting to happen.

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 this one. If you want to see a movie with exceptional character development, head right over to your local cineplex and get yourself a ticket. I rated this movie with 4 stars not because it has some special effects or something else that just has to be seen on the big screen, but because the performances from all the actors are so well done and the plot is so interesting that this movie deserves to be seen on the big screen.

Posted by John | Filed Under 4 Stars, Annette Bening, Drama, Kevin Spacey, Mena Suvari, R, Scott Bakula, Theatrical, Thora Birch