American Beauty
[DVD Info]

Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is an average guy, living a mundane and pointless life. He has a loveless marriage to his wife Caroline (Annette Bening), who cares more about her real estate job and keeping up the façade of a good marriage and a collected life, than her family. His daughter Jane (Thora Birch) is an outcast, who’s only friend shows off about all the sex she has. She hates both him and her mother.

At a real estate party he meets Ricky Fitts (Wes Bentley) his new gay-hating neighbor’s son and they toke up behind the building. Not long after, he meets Jane’s only friend Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari), Lester has a revelation. It felt like he’d been sleeping for 20 years and he suddenly woke up. His personality does a complete 180 and he is no longer the henpecked pushover he once was. Lester quits his job and blackmails them for an entire years pay, he gets the firebird he’s always wanted, and fantasizes about Angela constantly (who eggs him on by flirting shamelessly with him). He starts buying $2000 sacks of weed from Ricky, who is now Jane’s boyfriend. He looks back fondly at the last year of his life, when he died at 44…reveling in the beauty that was life.

It's flattering, not creepy, when a stranger video tapes you in the dark.

"Look at me jerking off in the shower. That's the high point of my day. It's all down hill from here." ~Lester.

None...I love this movie.

This truly is an awesome movie. This is definitely my favorite roles for both Thora Birch and Mena Suvari. I don’t really understand the message that this movie is trying to portray. Maybe that, no matter what life is beautiful? I dunno…all the main characters seemed to have crappy lives and even more crappy things happen to them. The imagery was great…I love the roses. I guess there really isn’t much to say when you don’t really understand it. Maybe it’s nothing deeper than a small peek into ordinary people’s lives, and how…if they just stopped and looked around for a moment they’d see the beauty that is life…and how you don’t really even notice it till it’s gone. Hmm…a truly beautiful movie that’s provocative and will keep you watching. Because of this, the jury gives this flick:

but
(Confused but In Awe)

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