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Created May 04, 2011 08:37PM PST • Edited May 04, 2011 08:37PM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Perfect 5.0

   Well deserving of it’s countless amounts of praise and the best picture Oscar that came with it, American Beauty is, in my opinion, one of the definitive films of the 1990’s and a perfect, if not terrifyingly authentic, portrayal of American suburbia.

   Kevin Spacey stars as Lester Burnham. Lester has a problem. He’s dead. This is no spoiler, this is revealed in the opening narration by Lester, himself. Lester is going through a midlife crisis. His daughter (Thora Birch) hates him to the point that she’s embarrassed to call him “Dad”, he loathes his wife (Annette Bening) with a scorching passion, and his job has turned him into an unhappy low life. However, everything suddenly changes when he finds himself attracted to his daughter’s popular cheerleader friend. He soon quits his job, starts working out, and begins a happy little relationship with the joint, much to the dismay of his wife and daughter. Lester finds himself starting over and soon everyone else in the film experiences the same thing.

   Spacey is absolutely brilliant as Lester. We feel for his character because he truly doesn’t deserve and of the flack he gets from anyone. Annette Bening is almost as brilliant as she portrays wife Carolyn as a spineless, yet still somewhat likable bitch who completely treats Lester like sh*t. Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, and Mira Suvari each give great performances as the teens who witness transformations in themselves and the people around them.

   The direction by Sam Mendes is absolutely flawless. This was Mendes’ feature film debut but he proved that a British theatre director could still perfect a film about American suburbia. The dialogue is equally perfect as it contains many memorable lines and each line plays off the other line very well. Each one comes off as very authentic. The musical score is perfectly suited because it has a light touch whilst still maintaining a somewhat dark tone.

   As far as I’m concerned, this is Sam Mendes’ masterpiece. It’s a perfect portrayal of American suburbia. I believe if someone watched this movie they would be able to relate to the surroundings and characters. It surprises me that many find it to be overrated and undeserving of it’s best picture statue. While there were better films out that year (notably Fight Club), I still feel that of all the movies nominated, it was the most deserving. It is truely great filmmaking.

4. Acting

   Really Great 4.5

5. Male Stars Perfect 5.0

6. Female Stars Perfect 5.0

7. Female Costars Great 4.0

8. Male Costars Really Great 4.5

10. Film

    Perfect 5.0

11. Direction Perfect 5.0

12. Play Perfect 5.0

13. Music Perfect 5.0

14. Visuals Perfect 5.0
15. Content

16. Edge

    Horrid 3.8

17. Sex Lewd 4.0

18. Violence Brutal 3.5

19. Rudeness Nasty 4.0

21. Reality

    Surreal 2.5

22. Circumstantial Surreal 2.5

23. Biological Surreal 2.5

24. Physical Surreal 2.5