American Beauty (1999)
- Casting: The main characters of American Beauty are Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), Carolyn Burnham (Annette Benning), Jane Burnham (Thora Birch), Ricky Fitts (Wes Bentley) and Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari). This movie topped an excellent 90’s for Spacey, who as starred in LA Confidential and The Usual Suspects, making him perfect for the lead in this. In contrast, for Birch, Bentley and Suvari, this was a kick starter to their respective careers, who to date are still going strong in the industry (well maybe not Birch). American Beauty won 5 Oscars after being nominated for 8, and is seen as one of the greatest movies of all time.
- Story: Lester Burnham is a corporate man, who during a delayering at his job, decides that he is not living his life the way he wants. Lester becomes infatuated by his daughter Jane’s friend Angela, and in a bid to impress her starts changing a number of aspects of his life. The result of these new behaviours begin to further alienate his wife, Carolyn, his daughter, Jane, ad himself from his previous lifestyle. As revealed in the opening monologue, Lester will die in the movie, which starts to be eradicated from the audiences mind as it just seems to be heading down the way of an older man finding himself.
- Music: The music throughout the movie is very scene appropriate, yet not directly character appropriate. The music draws the audience to what the future of the characters may include, with scenes with Ricky having darker tones, with Lester having lighter tones until the end as he reinvents himself. The theme song for the movie has gone down as an iconic musical piece, due to the perfect encapsulation of a moment in the movie (like Hero-Family of the Year, in Boyhood, or Don’t You- Simple Minds, in The Breakfast Club).
- Predictability: The first time I watched American Beauty, I narrowed down the shooter to a list of two, one of which was the actual shooter. But to any lay person, the outcome would have not been as expected. The events of the movie unfolding were also difficult to predict, as not many rational people wold have expected Jane to hang out with Ricky after she caught him filming her.
- Rewatch: I have watched this around 5 times, but this does not deter me from watching it again. I could easily rewatch monthly, but then I wouldn’t be able to watch/rewatch other great films which trump American Beauty.
Casting 1/1
Story 1/1
Music 1/1
Predictability 1/1
Rewatch 1/1
Total 5+/5
Movies Manipulated 