American Beauty (DVD) > Reviews

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...hadn't paid much attention to American Beauty on it's initial release, it wasn't really "my kind of film". I'm more of a guns-n-monsters kind of guy, but with 5 Oscars (including best picture), 6 Baftas, terrific reviews and everyone I know going "You MUST see American Beauty!" - I thought I'd better give it a go. So I did and all I can say is that I wish I'd watched it sooner because this is not the drippy, "chick-flick" that I was half expecting, ... Read review

Advantages: Intelligent script, inventive direction, superb acting...memorable in every respect
Disadvantages: Definitely not one for the children. Explicit language, sexual content and violence.

...is the theme running through American Beauty. From first-person perspectives, from behind windows, on the small screen of a portable mini camcorder - or a combination of any of these - Mendes straddles the fine line between probing and voyeurism, between watching and studying. The rose is significant for a number of reasons, all of them symbolic. Surreal, graceful dream sequences strewn with petals crop up at regular intervals, ever-so-subtly ... Read review

Advantages: Great film
Disadvantages: Could be considered sick to some people

American Beauty is an absolutely amazing and extremely interesting film and deserved all of the oscar awards it got. It is a film about a group of people who have absolutely no similarities and how their lives strangely inter twine together. This is a definately a completely original film, with no other film with an even slightly similar story. The storyline is strangely different to most others, some people may think it is a very weird, sick and ... Read review

Advantages: A good film
Disadvantages: Bad choice of Actress

American beauty was a film that looked moderately unattractive to me. I thought it was going to be a typical American teen flick. How wrong I was. It just goes to show you that you dont know what a film is really like until you sit down and watch it. It looks at mundane suburban lives and the devastation misunderstood signals and badly interpreted situations can lead to. The film follows a couple in America. Typical family who are ... Read review

Advantages: Acting, Direction, Story - all wonderful
Disadvantages: Erm....that awful dance tune thats just been released using the theme tune!

American Beauty is the story of one "average" family that turns out to be not so average upon closer inspection. Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is an average family man, who decides one day to make some changes in his boring, uneventful life. These changes on the surface could easily fall under the category of "midlife-crisis," but when delved into deeper they are really a form of "rebirth," almost an awakening. His wife (Bening) ignores him, his daughter ... Read review

Advantages: Good underlying theme
Disadvantages: Slow in parts

I've heard mixed reviews about "American Beauty" - my best friend and her hubby watched it and thought it was a waste of money, mine watched it and thought it was "an ok movie". He said he could understand where the thoughts of the character played by Kevin Spacey, were at. This is a male mid-life crisis movie, and with hubby being 36 and having one of his own, I suppose that leads to the understanding of the main person here - where some of us just ... Read review

Advantages: very good story and performances
Disadvantages: wish it had gone on longer

I was in two minds about this, as I thought it might just be another one of those mid life crisis films. There is an impressive range of actors in this, including Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening. The performances they give are very good and the story itself is full of both humour and pathos. Bening and Spacey play husband and wife with a teenage daughter. The marriage is not going very well, with both partners being frustrated sexually and generally. Bening ... Read review

Advantages: Kevin Spacey - awesome.
Disadvantages: Maybe a little too weird and extreme - see ending!

I thought that this movie was absolutley brilliant and pure gold. It was altogether a weird storyline and completely weird characters all mixed together in a sort of comedy drama that has you wondering what exactly is going to happen next! Kevin Spacey gives a killer performance and everyone in the movie is just brilliant. Some have said that this movie isn't very good, but compared to others out there, this one is definitely worth winning some top ... Read review

Advantages: Can watch it many times
Disadvantages: Can't think of any

...is set in an average american street in an average home, and the point of this is that from the outside we see them as a normal family, doing ordinary things in their lives, but it takes just a small look closer to realise that they are by no means happy with there seeming ordinary life. This is the whole point of the film and works very well. Characters: Lester Burnham the father of the family is going through a mid-life crisis, finally realising ... Read review

Advantages: Brave cinema, with outstanding performances
Disadvantages: Potentially upsetting content

One of the most fantastic directorial debuts that you are likely to see. A wonderfully refreshing film, that stands tall amongst the dross that Hollywood has been heaping out since the early eighties. Probably no coincidence that the director is British and from a theatre background. The performances are outstanding, and i find myself struggling to single out any one member of the cast for particular praise. The story itself, concerning one mans struggle ... Read review

Advantages: Great performances, amazing debut by director Sam Mendes
Disadvantages: some people may find it disturbing

...‘video’ category, sorry :O( I saw American Beauty when it was first released at the cinema in the UK. I was totally awestruck by the wonderful filmmaking and the very evocative score. The performances from the entire cast are of the highest standard and it was most definitely my 'film of the year'. Last night I watched the film on my VCR, and I have to say that I felt that it lost a lot of its impact. The story is still great, the ... Read review

Advantages: Delge deep and you will discover
Disadvantages: Hard to understand on the surface

...lives of a dysfunctional surburbian American family. I found this film strange yet compelling. It showed how a family try to show that they are a good family unit, yet behind the scenes there is all kinds of deceit and betrayal. The film stars Kevin Spacey, Annette Benning and Mena Suvari. After watching this film I realised why it had won numerous oscars. On the outside the film does not really make much sense. However once you delge deep into the ... Read review