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 American Beauty (DVD)
 American Beauty (DVD) ... released 27 November, 2000 at Dreamworks Home Entertainment / Features of the DVD: Anamorphic, PAL / From its first gliding aerial shot of a generic suburban street, American Beauty moves with a mesmerising confidence and acuity epitomised by Kevin Spacey's calm narration. Spacey is Lester Burnham, a harried Everyman whose midlife awakening is the spine of the story, and his very first lines hook us with their teasing fatalism--like Sunset Boulevard's Joe Gillis, Burnham tells us his story from beyond the grave. It's an audacious start for a film that justifies that audacity. Weaving social satire, domestic tragedy and whodunit into a single package, Alan Ball's first theatrical script dares to blur generic lines and keep us off balance, winking seamlessly from dark, scabrous comedy to deeply moving drama. The Burnham family joins the cinematic short-list of great dysfunctional American families, as Lester is pitted against his manic, materialistic realtor wife, Carolyn (Annette Bening, making the most of a mostly unsympathetic role) and his sullen, contemptuous teenaged daughter, Jane (Thora Birch, utterly convincing in her edgy balance of self-absorption and wistful longing). Into their lives come two catalytic outsiders. A young cheerleader (Mena Suvari) jolts Lester into a sexual epiphany that blooms into a second adolescence. And an eerily calm young neighbour (Wes Bentley) transforms both Lester and Jane with his canny influence. Credit another big-screen newcomer, English theatrical director Sam Mendes, with expertly juggling these potentially disjunctive elements into a superb ensemble piece that achieves a stylised pace without lapsing into transparent self-indulgence. Mendes has shrewdly insured his success with a solid crew of stage veterans, yet he has also made an inspired discovery in Bentley, whose Ricky Fitts becomes a fulcrum for both plot and theme. Cinematographer Conrad Hall's sumptuous visual design further elevates the film, infusing the beige interiors of the Burnhams' lives with vivid bursts of deep crimson, the colour of roses--and of blood. --Sam SutherlandNewest Review: ... perfect house and all round wonderful life. However things are very different and eventually Lester snaps! So the story ... more ... follows him as his life falls apart and he does crazy things to try and make his life more fulfilling.
The is a truly brilliant film! It really did deserve all the awards and for once a film like this actually deserves the hype it got. The film is shot so beautifully and the music in the film is just brilliant. It all fits together to set a perfect mood for telling the story.
The story itself is really nothing that special, but the way the actors tell the story, the way the film moves from one character to another gi...more |
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Price Comparison for American Beauty (DVD)
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American Beauty [DVD] [2000]
From its first gliding aerial shot of a generic suburban street, ... Last Update 22.11.2009 05:45
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£ 4.98 |
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American Beauty (DVD): American Beauty (1197 words)
by - written on 08/02/08 (Very useful, 102 readings)
Rating:
Im actually going to enjoy writing this next review, partly because ive probably seen the film a hundred plus times, and yet have never got board of its quality. This review is on the academy award winning American Beauty, starring Kevin Spacey. Now im actually a really big Spacey fan, some of his work including The Usual Suspects and K PAX have been some of his best work. He has the knack of just making you admire what ever character he plays, he has a sort of presence that makes you feel this film is going to be powerful. He has a humorous side, he can play a dark side you name it, I even liked his recent portrayal of Lex Luther in Superman Returns, the role really ... Read the complete review
Understanding beauty !! (997 words)
by - written on 23/08/07 (Very useful, 78 readings)
Rating:
American Beauty Director : Sam Mendes Actors: Kevin Spacey Thora Birch Wes Bentley Mena Suvari Annette Bening Chris Cooper Some films make 2 dents in our thoughts, this film made more than 50 dents, the dents are big and wide, I must say we need to understand beauty behind a beautiful person/thing. If rose petals are beautiful, then photography of this film won an Oscar, what makes me discuss beauty in this review is the title itself : AMERICAN BEAUTY. My next point is sweet teenage girls talking in very vulgar terms about their escapades , is that b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l. A father calling ... Read the complete review
American Beauty (DVD): Looking Closer (1283 words)
by - written on 17/08/07 (Very useful, 194 readings)
Rating:
Released in 1999, Sam Mendes’ American Beauty is one of my favourite films, and achieved the rare double of receiving both critical and commercial acclaim. A big screen debut for both director Mendes and writer Alan Ball, it was nominated for eight Oscars, and won five. It’s a film of some depth, taking an everyday suburban existence and examining its appearances and relationships in terms of (amongst other things) personal fulfilment, family ties, the concepts of beauty and freedom. The tag line of the film was ‘look closer’ – and guided by Mendes’ skilled direction, you do. Lester and Carolyn Burnham (Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening) are a typical middle ... Read the complete review
You Beauty! (1480 words)
by - written on 01/09/04 (Very useful, 371 readings)
Rating:
There are very few films that you know within the first few minutes of watching them that they are going to be modern classics. From the moment that the camera pans over suburbia accompanied by Kevin Spacey's acerbic monologue, I could tell that I was in for something special - after all, how often are you told in the first few sentences that in less than a year the central character is going to be dead? British theatre-director, Sam Mendes' feature film debut is an intelligent and darkly humorous commentary on middle-class life that is wonderfully realised through production design, cinematography, score and a range of exceptional performances. Lester ... Read the complete review
American Beauty (DVD): This Time Next Year I'll Be Dead (1516 words)
by - written on 06/01/02 (Very useful, 264 readings)
Rating:
Have you ever been sitting there watching the closing credits and thought…wow! Well that’s how I felt after watching American Beauty. This film seemed to take Blue Velvet (not as controversial, though), add Sex Lies and Videotape and proceed to rip across middle-class American suburbia. Incredibly, it weaves together a rites of passage story with a reprisal of a mid-life crisis with stunning effect. The principal people responsible for the movie are: Annette Bening (Caroline Burnham) Kevin Spacey (Lester Burnham) Thora Birch (Jane Burnham) Scott Bakula (Jim) Wes Bentley (Ricky Fitts) Chris Cooper (Colonel Fitts) ... Read the complete review
American Beauty (DVD) : You Beauty!from ickkate
01/09/2004
American Beauty (DVD) : This Time Next Year I'll Be Deadfrom marandina
06/01/2002
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