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Dutchy
Jul 27th, 2000, 07:54:43 AM
I absolutely LOVED it, even more than the first time.

(minor) SPOILERS in this post.

Yesterday I watched American Beauty for the second time. I started the video and never stopped it until the very end of the endcredits. That means a lot. From the second the movie zooms in on the street accompanied by the wonderful piano music I'm sucked into it to never let go again. It's one of those very rare movies that doesn't have one boring moment. Such a fantastic movie... very intens atmosphere. And the music is so wonderful and really adds to that atmosphere. Everything is perfect about this movie: the acting for instance. The cast is one of the best ensembles ever. Kevin Spacey, Mena Suvari, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley and Chris Cooper, they're all excellent. Annette Bening too, though she's going over board a couple of times. The movie is also visually stunning, especially combined with the gorgeous music: modest, but its presence is very emphatic anyway.

The dialogue is very sharp and the story tells a lot of hard truths about human behaviour (fake marriages for instance). And all in a splendid cynical way. The movie finds a perfect balance between comedy and drama. There's several hilarious scenes and there's lotsa laughs, but there's also scenes that gave me cold chills. The couch scene between Kevin Spacey and Mena Suvari for instance. Suvari's character development is brilliant and she gives the best supporting performance by a female of the year. From a very self-confident, trash-mouthed teenager in the beginning to a fragile, insecure girl in the end who didn't need Spacey as a lover, but as a father figure. Brilliant how that scene switches. Spacey is fantastic, I have to admit. I sure liked him better than the first time I watched it. He carries the movie for an important part (that sarcastic lil smile all the time!), but the rest of the cast is just as good, they just have a smaller part. Fantastic also how Bentley doesn't even glance at the very popular Suvari, but finds the seemingly boring Birch much more interesting. Plus the scene with the plasticbag is wonderful. Beauty indeed can be found in insignificant, small things.

The ending of the movie is also magnificent. The way they gave all the main characters a motive to kill Spacey is brilliant. Tho the movie is not about that at all of course. Most of all, the beautiful images, the wonderful music and Spacey's poetic words sent shivers down my spine. Throughout all of the end credits I stayed in my chair still thoroughly enjoying the movie that had just ended. It's hard to stand up when there's so much beauty in a movie.

Grade: 9.5 / 10

jjwr
Jul 27th, 2000, 08:12:12 AM
I finally saw this about a month or so ago, I thought it was good, a very compelling movie but definelty not Best Movie of the Year. It didn't hold a candle to The Green Mile in my opinion. But thats just me.

Jedieb
Jul 27th, 2000, 08:20:28 AM
I lovd AB as well. The dialogue was excellent and the actors were superb. And Spacey's last lines tied the whold film together beautifully."But don't worry, you'll see....."

BristerM
Jul 27th, 2000, 01:13:26 PM
I think American Beauty and The Green Mile are roughly on the same par as far as movies go. Both are very good but not "great" timeless movies, such as Gladiator, The Shawshank Redemption, and Star Wars.

CMJ
Jul 27th, 2000, 01:22:34 PM
Two favorite films of last year. Originally I thought THE GREEN MILE was a better film....but I'm not so sure anymore. AMERICAN BEAUTY is an astonishing achievement that truly grows on you. It is so damn witty, and harsh....yet filled with hope at the same time. It's a tremendous film. THE GREEN MILE is also terrific. Great performances and wonderful cinematography (among other things) highlight this film. It is also a film of hope(of sorts) set somewhere you wouldn't expect. Man...those are two great flicks...:)

EDUARDO
Jul 27th, 2000, 02:11:54 PM
Donīt compere nothing to STAR WARS

Figrin D an
Jul 27th, 2000, 04:04:17 PM
It's very difficult to predict what films will eventually be regarded as timeless. 'American Beauty' may become such a film or it may not.

When it first debuted, the film 'Casblanca' did moderately well in the theatres and was good enough to capture the Best Picture Oscar that year, much like 'American Beauty.' It was regarded at the time as a good film by most, but nowhere near the best, while a small group contended that it would become a classic, much as with 'American Beauty.' Time can change everything, for as we know, 'Casablanca' is today regarded by many as the a truely elite film, if not the greatest film of all time. We'll have to wait perhaps for many years before we'll know if 'American Beauty' will become an elite, timeless film.

That said, I though 'American Beauty' was a brilliant film. I'm not sure where it ranks among my favorite films, but it is definately on my list.

Jedieb
Jul 27th, 2000, 10:13:16 PM
If I remember right, Casablanca was a big hit. One of the top 10 grossing films of 1943. But it certainly didn't challenge any all time box office records when it was released. It's my all time favorite. Always good to see another Bogie fan. :)

Jedi Master Kyle
Jul 27th, 2000, 10:39:56 PM
I'll have to get around to seeing that someday. Oh who am I kidding, I say that at least once a week!

Challah
Jul 28th, 2000, 04:40:34 PM
See, I like American Beauty because it was good and I enjoyed watching it. It was funny because Lester at his job is exactly like me at my school. I rooted for him and I think lotsa people want to do what he did in that film at one point in their lives. I saw AB and the only thing I could say about it was: "Beautiful."

The Green Mile was a good movie, and I know it, but I didn't enjoy watching it. I found it to be just a tad too long. A movie that's too long in my opinion is when you can feel that it's long. Some 3 hour+ movies fly by for me (Magnolia comes to mind), but TGM trudged along in some parts for me. Fascinating concept, it lends itself well to a visual story, but it could have been paced a little better.

Both are great films, but I enjoy AB better. I'm curious to what the previous script was like before they made Lester the focus.

Dutchy
Sep 19th, 2000, 07:17:37 PM
Two months ago I watched it for the second time and today for the third, and the experience was just as wonderful as the last time.

Besides the acting, visuals and music this time I was especially impressed with the editing. The ultimate movie experience is when you forget everything happening around you and you're completely sucked into the movie. You're watching the movie in a trance so to speak. Sometimes a scene transition can be rather sudden and you wake up from that trance. Also sometimes a scene can take too lang causing your attention to slack and you start looking around you: there goes the trance. American Beauty doesn't have any of those moments. The editing is absolutely perfect. The movie takes exactly enough time to finish one scene and then smoothly changes into the next. You don't notice the transitions and the movie flows like a poem with a perfect rhyme scheme. The minute the movie zooms in on the street you get into that trance which will last until way after the end credits...

The experience was just as intense as the second time. The ending was pure poetic which finds its absolute summit in the scene with the most beautiful visuals, the most beautiful music plus the most beautiful quote. What an ultimate moment. While we watch the enchanting plastic bag scene again accompanied by the wonderful song "Any Other Name" Lester Burnham says the beautiful and unforgettable words "it's hard to stay mad when there's so much beauty in the world". It sent shivers down my spine... what a fantastic movie.

In my opinion American Beauty is the perfect movie and it gets a very well deserved spot in my all time top 10. American Beauty gets the perfect 10 out of 10.

Jedieb
Sep 19th, 2000, 09:25:00 PM
It's coming to HBO in November, that's when I'll get my second viewing. When I think of the film I think of Spacey's narrative. You know his character is dying and you still find yourself rooting for him, hoping that the movie has some surprise for you. That his character will not find the inevitable end the movie has laid out for him. I think his character is extremely tragic. At the very moment he finds peace within himself his life is taken from him. At least he exited at just the right moment. If he had died a few months earlier his life would have been wasted.

Darth Turbogeek
Sep 20th, 2000, 08:20:58 AM
I returned the video and vowed never to see it again. Awful, utterly awful. Hated it. Crap. Terrible. Overrated. Softcore porn. Disgusting.

I wasted good money hiring this trash!

DvdJervs
Sep 21st, 2000, 03:00:01 AM
Well, I think you've made your point well clear DT. :) But would you mind actually explaining why you found it awful? I have yet to see it myself so if it is awful I'd like to find first before hiring it. :)

Jedi Master Kyle
Sep 21st, 2000, 08:19:44 PM
You're going to hire American Beauty? :) Cool! let me know how I can hire one! :)

DvdJervs
Sep 21st, 2000, 10:25:02 PM
Arrgghh, just shutup! :rollin: