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| Discussion: American Beauty Pages: 1 2 who are the actors in the film>>By jim the film was so great. it catches small things and misery in life. >>By gilraen I was all hyped up before seeing this movie but when i saw it i was totally dissappointed. it was totally over-rated. I get that the whole concept of the movie was to poke fun of American Society in general& it was really well done but, again too over rated! >>By Tilly The whole point of it was for one to realize that one day we are all going to wake up and discover our lives are very trivial. The things that should matter most to us don't. My favorite part would have to be when Kevin Spacey snaps back into reality when he finds out Mena is a virgin. That part really hits home as to what we perceive and our lost innocence. I liked it, and I would also recommend 'Life As a House' as a movie that will make you think. >>By Esperanza im an a-level student, doing a HUGE essay on this film and need some help on the representation of homosexuality. so if you think you could help me or chat about it to give me some ideas, i'd be very grateful! >>By jemski i guess i will take the shallow road and say; what blonde cheerleader? i couldn't take my eyes off of kevins performance. actually, all of the actors were superb in this movie. i have read everything from the worst movie people have ever seen to watching it over and over till their eyes popped out. kevin indeed ruled!!! in this good movie. i feel it took a bit of all of our american lives. in bits and pieces. nothing was too suprising to watch. but, the short ebb and flow of it left me with my eyes glued to the screen. i'm a devoted fan of KEVIN SPACEY and believe his work just gets better and better. i'm thankful he carried this movie well. this was china_dream 9/24/03 midnight >>By china_dream cast Kevin Spacey .... Lester Burnham Annette Bening .... Carolyn Burnham Thora Birch .... Jane Burnham Wes Bentley .... Ricky Fitts Mena Suvari .... Angela Hayes Peter Gallagher .... Buddy Kane Scott Bakula .... Jim Olmeyer >>By decolady this was an amazing movie. it made on thinkl, question, doubt, and it provoked all sorts of emotions. i really enjoyed this movie and all of kevin spaceys movies. on a side note, has anyone else noticed that Annette Bening has sex in every movie she is in? i think she does anyway >>By Mighty Crayon I thought 'American Beauty was a tremendous film , powerful and scathing in it's depiction of the american dream.And I loved the irony that Lester's refusal to deflower Mena,the only positive moral action of anyone in the film,Led to his murder.Nobody could accept the truth and walk on except Lester and he died for this sin >>By goddog My boyfriend and I are having a discussion and I believe that the former Marine, what ever his name was is gay and my boyfriend doesn't. Any suggests? >>By T_Sweety What middle aged man hasn't has a crush on his daughter's friend before? So true >>By ftad Hi, T_Sweety. My impression was that the neighbour was a "repressed" gay, in denial or hiding, but events made his nature surface. If I recall he got the wrong impression about the husband & his son, reacted first as the homophobic behavioured 'gay in denial', but then broke down/through, then couldn't face what he had revealed, so covered up the evidence (Spacey). Any comments? >>By flamencoprof BTW, goddog said "that Lester's refusal to deflower Mena,the only positive moral action of anyone in the film,Led to his murder". I agree that it was the only positive moral action, but I'm not so sure how that led to his murder, or if that was the sin he died for. Maybe I just don't remember all of it? I must say I came away from this movie asking myself "Was there anyone in this story who wasn't screwed up?" >>By flamencoprof i think everyone was screwed up, even lester, until he showered and decided just to 'be' and quit. the neighbor was a gay? i dont think so. my opinion is, him being a former marine from the 60's, he was trapped in his prejudices. especially against gays. this movie is brilliant. it asks about profound aspects of our modern life. >>By laplace See, there it is, the argument, was he or was he not gay. I go with Flamancoprof, he was a repressed gay and the events led up to his coming to grips with that. He couldn't take the fact that he was gay because he had denied it and he had built his whole life around being straight, hence the marines and his hatred of homosexuals. He was trying to deny himself. But..my boyfriend agrees with laplace. Filo (my boyfriend) believes that the kiss at the end was merely a test to see if his neighbor was gay and in finding out that he wasn't was devastating, so devastating that he killed him. Anyone else.........? >>By T_Sweety I know I'm not anyone else, T_Sweety but...........I reckon I'm right, look at these:- COLONEL Your wife is with another man and you don't care? LESTER Nope, our marriage is just for show. A commercial, for how normal we are. When we are anything but. He grins... and so does the Colonel. ********** (F'prof comment: -The Colonel grins because he thinks he might be right about Lester being gay.) ******** and:- He opens his eyes and looks at Lester, his face filled with an anguished vulnerability we wouldn't have thought possible from him. His eyes are brimming with tears. Lester leans in, concerned. LESTER It's okay. COLONEL (hoarse) I... LESTER (softly) Just tell me what you need. The Colonel reaches up and places his hand on Lester's cheek... and then kisses him. Lester is momentarily stunned, and then he pushes the Colonel away. The Colonel's face crumples in shame. LESTER (cont'd) Whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm sorry. You got the wrong idea. The Colonel stares at the floor, blinking, and then he turns and runs out the open garage door into the rainy night. Fom the script, found at http://www. dailyscript.com/scripts/ AmericanBeauty_final.html Doesn't sound like a guy testing someone. Since when do homophobic non-gays go round kissing other guys to test if they are gay.? >>By flamencoprof That's the argument I put up but....tell that to my boyfriend, lol. Thanks for the script. He'll be getting this through his email, lol. >>By T_Sweety Actually that bit doesn't interest me so much as Lester's thing for Angela; been there had 2 daughters, seen their friends... it's like when do you pick a flower? What if she hadn't been a virgin? Would he have gone ahead? It was a good plot twist. >>By flamencoprof Just watched this movie again on TV. It's almost a hippie movie, not with hippies in it, but America looked at from the hippie perspective.. I have to empathise with Lester, of course, but it is so poignant in the way it shows all of the characters' viewpoints. I felt for the wife character too, when she failed to sell the house. I asked above if there was any character that wasn't screwed up, but I have decided that's too negative a viewpoint, really it is a story of redemption/renewal/regeneration/revitalisation and a tragic/brutal/misdirected/wrongheaded curtailment of that drive. America the beautiful gone wrong is bit obvious to say I guess, but I think the virtue of this movie is the filmic way it is said. Like the "root beer" scene, sorry ladies but that was a good depiction of the male mind when in "Attracted" mode. >>By flamencoprof We talked about that movie recently at work and I was taken aback when some of my colleagues told me they believed Lester had been killed by his wife. I saw the movie several times and it never crossed my mind. it always was obvious to me that the neighbour did it. Did aznyone else think the ending was ambiguous ? >>By Kara to Kara - I totally agree with you that the neighbour killed Lester, although his wife carolyn has got a motive too... But there is one scene the neighbour is walking in his house with a bloody shirt and a missing gun on the wall, and another scene with carolyn going through the rain hearing the shot. Really a great movie with a brilliant Kevin Spacey! >>By apollo78 it's obvious that the neighbour killed Lester! if carolyn had done it she would have blood all over her shirt, instead of the neighbour (i forget his name). very good movie, though. Wes Bentley is awesome. so is Spacey. a beautifully twisted movie... >>By ania i have to say that this is one of the best film i have ever seen. the acting and directing were all superb, and the plastic bag part gets me every time. this has got to be one of the best films i have ever seen. >>By Cadence Has anyone else been inspired by Lester's break with 'reality'? I really loved the scenes where he traded the mini-van for the hotrod camero, sat on the 'forbidden' couch and, best of all, got a job at McD's running the drive-thru. His wife was so driven and for what? She wasn't happy and was going no where. I think the message of the film is that a lot of people are really profoundly unhappy with their life but do nothing about it. Lester at least tries to do something about it. He may have been misguided but I think that he found 'enlightenment' and was totally redeemed before the film's end. >>By marlond Does anyone else want to screw authority over like Lester did?? >>By Tchock If so then contact me and I'll put you in the right path to "screw capitalism and all it stands for in LESS THAN A MONTH" >>By Tchock this movie was absolutely powerful, the end.. >>By harpoon_sha I am a fan of weird movies, but this one was horrible. It keeps getting wonderful reviews, which pisses me off because it's just popular for the sexual/shock factor. It is one of the worst representations of American culture and I find it insulting that they used this country as the title in what was truly just a trashy sex & psycho violence flick. >>By LastCaress18 Just a trashy sex & psycho violence flick????? I'm sorry Ms LastCaress18, but it is far from that. But I suppose only those who don't understand it see the film that way : I pity you for that. >>By Tchock I understand the film and also the impact it has on many people. I am a writer of eerie & bizarre stories and also a founder of an independent movie group and my favorite producer is Tim Burton. I shuold've elaborated better; I just personally did not like the theme because it hit a little close to home for me. >>By LastCaress18 Pages: 1 2 |