I'm someone who has seen both the highs and the lows of consumer life... Starting a new life in Not...
I'm someone who has seen both the highs and the lows of consumer life... Starting a new life in Nottingham with Shushy, my fiancee.
Member since:16.08.2001
Reviews:90
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American Beauty follows the lives of a small group of people who are all related by the fact that they live within 3 doors of one another and while everything may look peaceful and serene from the outside, we are given a glimpse of what is really going on inside.
Cast ----
Lester Burnham - Kevin Spacey Carolyn Burnham - Annette Benning Jane Burnham - Thora Birch Ricky Fitts - Wes Bentley Angela - Mena Suvari Colnel Fitts - Chris Cooper Barbara Fitts - Allison Janney
Plot ----
The plot is partially narrative driven by Spacey who makes a statement at the beginning of the film and keeps you hanging on to see if it's true. In the meantime you are treated to a few days in the lives of the characters, who will enchant you the instant you come into contact with them.
Spacey plays a guy in the midst of a mid-life crisis and the breakdown of his marriage. Sexually frustrated, he becomes infatuated with Angela, a friend of his daughter. He decides that his life has become boring and does something that a lot of people wish they could do and drastically alters his life.
His wife, played by Annette Benning, starts an affair with a colleague and plays a wonderfully neurotic housewife who is desperately trying to keep up appearances.
His daugter Jane is at that time in her adolescence where she is rebelling against her parents and is also embarrassed by them. Her dad is the main source of her embarrassment as he makes no attempt to hide his attraction to Angela, who makes matters worse by flirting with him at every available opportunity.
The esoteric boy next door, Ricky Fitts is an odd-ball who lives with a racist, homophobic father who is an ex-US marine and who rules over him with a rod of iron.
So how do all these characters fit together? Mainly through two chance events that occur pretty early on in the movie, but lead to dramatic consequences. I really don't want to spoil the movie by explaining it too much.
The casting and shooting of this film is superb as every character is played to their full potential. The visuals, while not loaded down with special effects are still striking especially the dream sequences. The dream sequences aren't easy to spot at first, but you soon realise that everything may not be as it seems by soom clever shooting and Thomas Newman's incredible soundtrack.
If you want action or horror then this film isn't for you, but if you like dark humour with some very subtle twists then this comes highly rated. A real beauty.
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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...
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]")
Sep 4th, 2001
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