One of the beautiful things
 May 1st, 2001
(May 4th, 2001)
Advantages:
Amazing story, cinematography, acting . . .
Disadvantages:
None
Recommendable:
Yes
Detailed rating:
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Characters / Performances
Special Effects
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  kingsanj
About me:
I'm a lazy ba@£%rd who spends all his time watching DVDs, listening to music and getting pissed. So ...
Member since:05.03.2001
Reviews:34
Members who trust:7
Review rated by 21 Ciao members on average: very helpful 
STARRING: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, Mena Suvari,
DIRECTOR: Sam Mendes
RELEASED: 1999
CERTIFICATE: 18 THE FILM
Firstly all the hype, this film won 5 Oscars and 6 Baftas. As silly as this sounds, all the critical acclaim surrounding this film put me of going to watch it, however, when I did I saw what they were going on about. This film is superb in every sense. The film starts with a gliding aerial shot of a typical street that could be in any American suburb, and with Kevin Spacey narrating in a calm and confident manner.
Kevin Spacey (Usual Suspects, Seven, LA Confidential) is Lester Burnham, he is a man with a nagging wife (Annette Bening, Grifters, Bugsy), a sullen, contemptuous teenage daughter (Thora Birch, Hocus Pocus, Patriot Games) and a boring job. This family’s life is thrown into turmoil by Lester’s midlife crisis and fascination with his daughter’s best friend the precocious Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari, American Pie) and the introduction of a new family next door. The family next door consists of an ex-marine father (Chris Cooper, Me, Myself and Irene), a neurotic mother (Allison Janney, Nurse Betty) and the enigmatic son (Wes Bentley, Three Below Zero). The story centres on his midlife crisis; however, since Lester is narrating this story from beyond the grave we are all too aware that this ends in tragedy. The plot is superb and an excellent screen writing debut for Alan Ball (previously wrote on "Cybill" TV series), he somehow manages to make this film a comedy, a tragedy, a love story and a who dunnit! This combined with Conrad O’Hall’s award-winning cinematography and Sam Mendes’ (Previously directed theatrical version of "Little Voice") superb cinema debut makes for probably the best movie of the year!
QUALITY OF PICTURE AND SOUND
Presented in full anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio. The transfer boasts a smooth, clean appearance with just a small bit of grain that actually enhances the film’s gritty textures. Conrad L. Hall’s almost surreal color palette, especially the vibrant reds which are in contrast to the drained palette used for the interiors in the film is brought forth expertly on this DVD. Hall’s expert use of light and shadow is in no way lost because of the superb resolution and black-level on this DVD.
Much of American Beauty's power comes from the careful balance between Thomas Newman's score and the dialogue, and this comes across well on the DVD. There is excellent dynamic range and solid imaging, overall this is a very well-balanced mix.
DVD EXTRAS
There is a screen-specific audio commentary with Director Sam Mendes and Screenwriter Alan Ball is interesting to listen to, however, it would have been interesting if Alan Ball had spoken more and given us his thoughts on his screenplay. That said Mendes’ commentary is very informative and interesting, and he manages to put across his passion for the screenplay. However, for me the most interesting feature is the Storyboard-To-Screen Presentation with commentary by Mendes and Cinematographer Conrad L. Hall. Initially I thought that this would be boring, however, this is an interesting insight into the art of filmmaking and made me appreciate even more how good the film really is. This feature is almost worth the £19.99 on its own. The disk also contains the usual cast and crew biographies and theatrical trailers.
OVERALL
Excellent film, excellent DVD. To quote from the film, "Sometimes, there's so much beauty in the world, I feel like I just can't take it, and my heart is going to cave in.".
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![American Beauty [DVD] [2000]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78526734.jpg)
19.06.2001 00:24
Good review. I think this is a great film, with fantastic script and performances by all the actors. It deserved all the Oscars! Jo :@)
12.06.2001 16:29
Congratulations on a very well written and informative op. Like you, I specifically didn't go to see this film because of the hype, but am very tempted to watch it soon having read your op. Thanks, Joanna.
04.05.2001 09:30
I wish i had watched this movie knowing more about it - as its not your typical mindless release from the video store and shouldn't be watched with that mentality!