This film has been so immoderately praised that it is time, perhaps, for a more sober assessment. And when you get below the hype there is not much here to get excited about. Take the acting. Kevin Spacey does not act particularly well in this film, in fact he hardly acts at all - he walks through the part, looking every bit as smug as he does when interviewed. To suggest that this role merited an Oscar is to lose any sense of what acting is all about. Similarly with the script: it is not bad, but hardly a masterpiece. In fact it is full of tedious, shop-worn, caricatures, the most unpleasant of them being the martinet father who turns out to be a repressed homosexual (natch!). Shades here of Lawrence's Prussian Officer. But if a writer has to resort to this kind of easy target then he is really not working hard enough. But then the whole script is just too easy. Does the film end up telling us anything new about a mid-life crisis? Not really. Poor Lester Burnham rediscovers the power of lust and a good workout. Good for him. Only the cinematographer, Conrad Hall, really deserved the Oscar that he got. The film looks good - unfortunately this beauty is really only skin deep.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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
just thought i'd comment on chuckies comment, i did give reasons why i thought it was only an average film and yes my opinion is one sided because it is my opinion not a collage of everyone elses. I also did say one good point about the film...its cinematography, maybe before commenting on opinions you should read them.
Chuckie8766 13.02.2001 16:30
This opinion is of a good quality. It is, however, not set out on the page very well. It needs to be spread out across the page more, this will mean that more readers will read and rate your opinion very helpful. In it's current state it only deserves a helpful grading, sorry. If you decide to edit this opinion I will re-rate it for you then. Also, I feel that this opinion is a little too one-sided for my liking, you seem to only talk about the films bad points, Iam sure that it has at least one good point that you could have commented on. Please change it so that this becomes apart. Also it is not fair just to say that something is bad, please give reasons why you did not like this film's storyline. Thanks.
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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: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
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]")
Feb 13th, 2001
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