American Beauty
			Dir: Sam Mendes (2000) Starring: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Allison Janney, Peter Gallagher, Mena Suvari, Wes Bentley and Chris Cooper.
				American Beauty is a story about the lives of a married couple living a suburban Americana nightmare.  Mr. and Mrs. Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening) are not exactly happy with their lives, he a 'whore to the adverting industry for 14 years' and she a 'soul-less money grapping freak' who is obsessed with her position within society and their daughter, Jane (Thora Birch) who is stuck between her parents and despairs about both of them equally.  It is the introduction of Jane's friend Angela (Mena Suvari) that really sets the cat among the pigeons for the Burnham family.  For Lester Burnham it is his obsession with the undoubtedly gorgeous Angela that forces him into an about turn with his life, telling his boss to stuff his job, standing up to his wife, Carolyn, for the first time ever, smoking pot and working out.  He buys his dream car and tries to recapture his life.  But as Lester's changes start to affect the entire family unit, Carolyn becomes increasingly psychotic, and Jane who becomes more distant.  The Burnham's neighbour's son Ricky (Wes Bentley) is a release for Jane and Lester, providing Lester with pot and Jane with love for probably the first time in her life.  And of course in it with Ricky that Lester's tragedy begins. This odd and quirky film excels in every quarter from Sam Mendes' fabulous direction through Conrad Hall's amazing cinematography to the all star stellar cast who all deliver, with out exception, stunning performances.  The whole feel of the film is that this could be happening right next door, but it is the new comers that really stand out for it is on them that the film hangs they could have destroyed the film if they had not been up to the performances that were required of them but luckily for us they are all up to it.  Where American Beauty really takes off though is in the fabulous script that the filmmakers had to work with.  The dialogue is superb, with so many quotable lines and the characters are so well drawn that we can identify with them from the outset.  There is no weak link in this film. American Beauty is a delightful black comedy, showing us all that beauty is everywhere in the world sometimes in the most unlikely of places, we just have to open our eyes to see it. A stunning 5 out of 5