harbourboy

American Beauty is a very very good movie. One of my favourite sayings is that 'perception is reality'. This basically means that most of the problems that people have are really just caused by the way they see the world. For me, this movie is full of people who have a variety of problems because of their distorted views of the world and the people around them. I found this to be summed by Colonel Fits when he says to Lester "I seem to have got the wrong idea". Too right, but he is not the only one.

A good central theme does not alone make a great movie. American Beauty also features stunning performances from Spacey and Bening, supported by a superb cast playing a host of larger than life suburban weirdos. The cinematography is also fabulous as you'd expect from Conrad Hall.

My only gripe - why did the films' title have to feature the word 'American'?

Well done Sam Mendes. I give it 87/100

Plenty of space has been devoted to praising this film so I will only dwell on the aspects that struck me personally. First and foremost, this movie is a great example of how simplicity can be used to produce something great. This movie has no special effects or dramatic plot twists, just a view of what one man sees out of his window. Secondly, this is backed up by some excellent performances from James Stewart, Thelma Ritter, and especially Grace Kelly.

Kudos to Hitchcock and gang. 72/100

I saw this movie at a special presentation at the London Film Festival where we were honoured by a personal appearance from Michael Mann. This was a great experience after watching an excellent movie. Throughout 2.5 hours, the tension never lets up due to fantastic performances from all of the cast (I especially liked Bruce McGill as a hard nosed Mississippi lawyer), plus spot on direction and cinematography. That they cast and crew achieve this atmosphere is all the more remarkable for the fact that the story itself is one that could be very boring if handled the wrong way.

Great film - 82/100.