American Beauty (DVD)

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Rating Summary based on 131 reviews

		90

		27

		4

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		3

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54 of 54 Ciao users found the following review helpful

j_mcb

Any closer I'd be licking the screen... 28/05/2004

User recommends the product

Advantages Spacey, Mendes, rose petals
Disadvantages Steven Spielberg

“American Beauty” dominated the 1999 Academy Awards, sweeping the board of biggies picking up the acclaimed Best Picture award, Best Actor, Best Director, Cinematography and Writing. It was certainly worthy of such honour, being one of the most original films I have seen in a long time, breaking the mould is not the cliché. The film is darkly hilarious; a modern satire taking a slap at white-picket-fence suburbia and America’s bold and boasted “American dream” Ironically, the phrase is more suited as an “American Socially Dysfunctional Nightmare”... It’s not often I’ll watch a film and find ... more
66 of 66 Ciao users found the following review helpful

WormThatTurned

Member since 31/08/2002

Reviews written: 153

Who Killed Lester Burnham ?
Review with images
21/10/2004

User recommends the product

Advantages Cast/ Visuals/Script/Ending
Disadvantages Different from book

AMERICAN BEAUTY Certificate; 18 (Sexuality, language, violence and drugs) Duration; 122 minutes. Direction; Sam Mendes. Cast; Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, Mena Suvari, Chris Cooper, Peter Gallagher, Allison Janney, Scott Bakula. The ‘American Beauty’ of the title refers to the beauty of the American dream. Living in a beautiful home surrounded by beautiful gardens with a beautiful white picket fence in a beautiful neighbourhood. Then there’s the beautiful wife and the beautiful daughter. The rituals that are involved keeping up these beautiful ... more
56 of 56 Ciao users found the following review helpful

allmodcons

Looking Closer 17/08/2007

User recommends the product

Advantages One of my favourites
Disadvantages Nothing worth mentioning

Released in 1999, Sam Mendes’ American Beauty is one of my favourite films, and achieved the rare double of receiving both critical and commercial acclaim. A big screen debut for both director Mendes and writer Alan Ball, it was nominated for eight Oscars, and won five. It’s a film of some depth, taking an everyday suburban existence and examining its appearances and relationships in terms of (amongst other things) personal fulfilment, family ties, the concepts of beauty and freedom. The tag line of the film was ‘look closer’ – and guided by Mendes’ skilled direction, you do. Lester and ... more
35 of 35 Ciao users found the following review helpful

jaygami1986

Member since 31/07/2006

Reviews written: 113

American Beauty 08/02/2008

User recommends the product

Advantages Read opp
Disadvantages Read opp

Im actually going to enjoy writing this next review, partly because ive probably seen the film a hundred plus times, and yet have never got board of its quality. This review is on the academy award winning American Beauty, starring Kevin Spacey. Now im actually a really big Spacey fan, some of his work including The Usual Suspects and K PAX have been some of his best work. He has the knack of just making you admire what ever character he plays, he has a sort of presence that makes you feel this film is going to be powerful. He has a humorous side, he can play a dark side you name it, I even ... more
44 of 44 Ciao users found the following review helpful

dave27

Member since 24/09/2000

Reviews written: 989

Two old bulls 12/08/2001

User recommends the product

Advantages Spacey, the story, oh and everything
Disadvantages None

There are two bulls, a young one and an old one, stood chewing the cud on top of a hill. They are surveying all before them and gaze down into the valley below them, where all the best examples of bovine beauty are capering before them. The young bull turns to the old one and whispers, "Hey, old timer, let's run down this hill and give them young chickens a good seeing to." The old bull considers slowly and speaks without turning his head, "NO, NO, NO, young 'un, let's stroll down slowly and give THEM ALL A DAMN GOOD SEEING TO...." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Errmmm, dave27, what's that ... more
31 of 31 Ciao users found the following review helpful

skmm

Member since 13/03/2001

Reviews written: 38

The Truthful Intricacies 14/03/2001

User recommends the product

Advantages Life like characters caught in the quicksand of social chaos
Disadvantages Language, drug content

A panoramic suburban town, the streets lined with maple trees, the first shot of the movie American Beauty, is very placid and looking harmless. The image is a very desirable one for any town. But below this camouflage of living in decency, one can feel the tense palpable heart throbs, a fearfulness and an imbalance. It is said that beauty is skin deep, but American Beauty nudges deep through to the marrow of American society and explores its spirit. Sam Mendes, the debutant director, very fresh from his experience of theatrical direction in Great Britain, holds the reins with utmost ... more
68 of 68 Ciao users found the following review helpful

Morgenhund

Member since 26/07/2000

Reviews written: 574

Take a closer look at American Beauty... 04/11/2002

User recommends the product

Advantages great extras - a great DVD of a great film
Disadvantages none

I have had the Region 2 DVD version of American Beauty since late June, when I got it as a birthday present from my sister. After having had a disappointing viewing of the DVD of Peter’s Friends, which whilst being a great film, even if tinged with sadness and the characters are about as incompatible with one another as they come, I moved on to American Beauty. And before I realised I had watched several times in a period of days. I do not intend to mention that much about the actual film in terms of plot as I believe the essence in this opinion should be on the DVD version, rather than an out ... more
64 of 64 Ciao users found the following review helpful

broksababe

THE BEAUTY WITHIN 12/04/2001

User recommends the product

Advantages An excellent film, with so many qualities inside
Disadvantages characters are sometimes over the top but no loss to the films magic

American Beauty… A film portraying the sad misfortunes of a typical American family.. A film of strong sometimes too true to life undercurrents, yet portrayed to the viewer as an almost zany, dry humoured ironic view of life as we know it. Kevin Spacey portrays Leicester Burnham, a sad pathetic example of a man, who now at 42, suddenly realises his life is in a shambles and the mid life crisis starts to affect his reasoning. The basis of this and the general demise of the characters is all down to one thing, the loss of sexual relationships between Leicester and his wife. As I said he is ... more
22 of 22 Ciao users found the following review helpful

midpikyrozziy

Member since 10/01/2008

Reviews written: 81

You Beauty! [revised 02/05/08] 24/04/2008

User recommends the product

Advantages Deep, with hidden ideas and meanings, and a great ending
Disadvantages A bit stereotypical in places

American Beauty is a modern-day classic film, showing how restraining and boring suburban life in America can be, and how one man shows us how he breaks free. Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is stuck in a boring job under a boss he hates, has taken to masturbating in the shower because his wife, Carolyn (Annette Bening), isn't sexually relieving him, and he finds himself hated by his daughter. He becomes with his stale, repetitive existence. Lester discovers that to become more free, he will pay the ultimate price. At the start of the film he tells us that in less than a year, he would be dead ... more
26 of 26 Ciao users found the following review helpful

gollygumdrops

Member since 21/06/2000

Reviews written: 72

It's cinema, but not as we know it 12/10/2001

User recommends the product

Advantages It's excellent
Disadvantages It's not for under 25's

American Beauty is not what expected. It goes way beyond what I’d hoped for from one of the most hyped movies of the last few years. I’d imagined it to be a standard tale of mid life crisis, with a man falling for his daughters beautiful friend. That does happen, kind of, but it’s an itsy bitsy tiny part of the movie. Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is our hero, and our anti hero, and the character that makes us squirm uncomfortably in our seats as we recognize just a few flashes of our own lives reflected in the tedious hell that is his daily existence, a life that has decayed over the years in ... more