American Beauty (1999)

One of my favorties from 1999
Anercian Beauty is one of the best movies I've ever seen. The film is very dark, very funny and tragic. Kevin Spacey did give a very Oscar worthy performance as did Annette Beinnig. Mena Suvair plays Angela with top notch as a young women who uses seduction for her own purposes but has her own secerets. Sam Mendes makes an amazing film his first time out. The cinematography by Conrad Ball is some of the best ever put on film.

Love it!
As evidenced by the many stellar reviews, this is a great, great film. The fact that it is so enormously popular speaks to the quiet desperation many of us sometimes feel in our mundane, humdrum lives...where most of your time is spent doing stuff you are obligated to do, not what you really want to do.

From the exterior, Kevin Spacey's character has a good job, a great house, a beautiful wife and a loving daughter. The fact is, he's miserable. I love how he is sick of keeping up appearances. I love how he decides to live life the way he wants to - telling his boss to buzz off, buying his dream car, working out and smoking pot - it's brilliant. If a lot of people were brave enough, they would probably admit that they might like to go on a similar adventure.

In short, the way the tale unfolds is sheer brilliance. The end is shocking and surprising, and very powerful. This is mandatory movie watching for any film buff.

One of the best
I don't know how to add to the great comments this incredible film has received. It is a masterpiece and I know that word gets thrown around a lot but this film is simply a piece of film perfection. I am much more into action films or sci fi and so when I watched this a few nights ago it really took total of my attention. With all the recent films I've watched in the past few years, I admit I became a bit jaded and not at all interested in all the 'best films' like this year but I am glad I went back and visited the Best Film from 1999. It is a special film.