A deeply disturbing film that some will find just plainly odd and offensive, this is a sophisticated and wickedly funny look at suburban life when things go wrong. Of the two families concerned, the first is headed by Lester Burnham (played by the dryly funny Kevin Spacey) as the patriach who leaves his job after blackmailing his boss. He yearns for meaning in his life and sets out to do so in his own strange way. His wife Carolyn (played by Annette Bening) is an estate agent who has fallen out of love with Lester and has a brief affair with a fellow estate agent (Peter Gallagher) and is soon discovered in a hilarious set-piece at a hamburger joint’s drive-through. Their daughter Jane has fallen out with both of them and can’t seem to bond with them and decides that it’s only a matter of time before she escapes them. Someone she befriends is the next door neighbour’s son Ricky Fitts (Wes Bentley), a loner who videos ‘everyday’stuff (in the memorable and preposterous scene where he shows Jane his video of a plastic bag floating in the air). The second is headed by Col. Fitts (played by Chris Cooper), a retired marine who has a totalitarian appraoch to raising his son, Ricky (as his wife played by Allison Janney who just seems to sit there and soak up punishment from her husband). Essentially this showcases two rising talents and neither of them are on screen (in the physical sense at least). Both Alan Ball’s script and Sam Mendes’ direction deserve a lot of praise (as well as cinematographer Conrad Hall) for stretching this into an imaginative piece of entertainment. Some may find offense at some of the targets in this film but this is a film that isn’t intended for everybody.
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Production Year: 2007 - Drama - Director: Mike Binder - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Adam Sandler, Don Cheadle, Jada Pinkett, Liv Tyler, Saffron Burrows, Donald Sutherland, Mike Binder
Production Year: 1998 - Drama - Director: Carl Franklyn, Carl Franklin - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Meryl Streep, William Hurt, Renee Zellweger, Tom Everett Scott, Nicky Katt, Lauren Graham
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
From its first gliding aerial shot of a generic suburban street,American Beautymoves with ... more
a mesmerising confidence and acuity epitomised by Kevin Spacey's calm narration. Spacey is Lester Burnham, a harried Everyman whose midlife awakening is the spine...
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Look closer at the most talked about film of the year. A funny, moving and shocking ... more
journey through life in suburban America.Look closer at fortysomething ad man Lester Burnham and his status-seeking wife, Carolyn, as their marriage and lives slowly un...
From its first gliding aerial shot of a generic suburban street,American Beautymoves with ... more
a mesmerising confidence and acuity epitomised by Kevin Spacey's calm narration. Spacey is Lester Burnham, a harried Everyman whose midlife awakening is the spine...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Marking the feature film directorial debut of award-winning theatre director Sam Mendes ... more
this funny moving and shocking journey through life in suburban America follows the trials and tribulations of Lester (Kevin Spacey) and Carolyn (Annette Bening) ...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
![American Beauty [DVD] [2000]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78526734.jpg "American Beauty [DVD] [2000]")
Aug 9th, 2000
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