American Beauty

9/15/19992h 2m

Theatrical (limited) Release (US)

~ ... look closer ~

Overview:

Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.

Director:

Sam Mendes

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$15,000,000.00

Revenue:

$356,296,601.00

Key words:

estate agent
adultery
coming out
first time
virgin
cheating
parent child relationship
age difference
midlife crisis
cheerleader
dark comedy
rose
satire
dysfunctional family
suburbia
coming of age
sexual fantasy
dysfunctional marriage
marijuana
loneliness
love affair
exercise
extramarital affair
realtor
voyeurism
quitting a job
neighborhood
philosophical
retired army man
closeted homosexual
singing in a car
gay theme
existential
teenager
camcorder

Cast

Kevin Spacey

~ as ~

Lester Burnham

Annette Bening

~ as ~

Carolyn Burnham

Thora Birch

~ as ~

Jane Burnham

Wes Bentley

~ as ~

Ricky Fitts

Mena Suvari

~ as ~

Angela Hayes

Peter Gallagher

~ as ~

Buddy Kane

Allison Janney

~ as ~

Barbara Fitts

Chris Cooper

~ as ~

Colonel Fitts

Scott Bakula

~ as ~

Jim Olmeyer

Sam Robards

~ as ~

Jim Berkley

View full cast & crew

Reviews (3)

t
tmdb70752507
Written 5 year(s) ago
10
The film American Beauty to me is a film about purpose. What is your purpose in life? The film teaches that there is such great beauty in the small things in life and that sometimes you need to take a step back to allow yourself to take in the unfiltered beauty in the small things like a plastic bag dancing in the wind, playing with the leaves. The film tells it's audience that the beauty in the small details is much greater than society's typical image of beauty. The prominent rose in the film is a symbol of false, surface beauty; the expensive and romantic flower is amongst almost every single shot in the film reminding us that we need to look beyond the surface beauty of an entity and see the beauty within. This message surrounding beauty is empathised with the inclusion of the rose on the films poster and the tagline, 'look closer' indicating that to see real beauty one must 'look closer', a task that typically requires more thoughtfulness and less immediate facial value judgements that make up the typical image of beauty.
stempst0r
Written 3 year(s) ago
10
I first saw this film in my teen years. I didn't understand the plot of the movie back then but found the erotic scenes interesting. I think I was also impressed by Lesters change in attitude back then. Rewatching it in my early thirties the movie really catches me. The story of every character is catching, because everyone is struggling with different ordinary problems, some of them probably known by every adult.
- Lester is fighting with his midlifecrisis and wants to break the devils-wheel of his boring everyday life. He also hates his job and the responsibility he has to carry because of it.
- His wife Annette is frustrated by her job, because she isn't as successful as she wants to be. To bring more joy in her life she starts an affair with another (more successful) real estate salesman.
- Their daughter Jane has a lack of self-confidence. She wants to be more like her more attention-getting friend Angela.
- The neighbor Colonel Frank is militant, conservative and wants to give his values to his son. As he thinks his son is gay, he thinks it is his failure because of himself feeling attracted by men.
- The neighbors son Ricky is a survivor. He tries to mimic to be a good son to his dad to stay out of trouble with him. Because he wants the newest technology (TVs, Camcorders, etc.) he is dealing with drugs.
- Angela lies that she is sleeping with a lot of boys just to feel more self-confident when her friends geht jealous. She wants to become a model and tries to avoid to be ordinary in any way.
Andre Gonzales
Written 2 year(s) ago
6
It was a ok movie. I didn't like Kevin Spacey creeping on a young teenager, but other then that it was a good movie.