AMERICAN BEAUTY

From the Archive: 5/17/2004
AMERICAN BEAUTY

This is truly one of the great american movies, ...... and not just because it has the word "American" in its title. It's a beautiful film, ........ also not just because it has the word "Beauty" in its title. Won the best picture Oscar for 1999, the first winner in years that actually deserved the title.

The main character, Lester Burnham, narrates his own story. The first thing he tells you is that he is a loser, and that, "I'll be dead in a year." So, there's no mystery there. As a comedy, we can laugh along with him because we can identify. We cheer him on as he tries to turn his life around. We feel for him as he obsesses over what he knows he can't have.

So many parodies have been made of this movie, that if you've never seen the original, now's the time. If you need to know more, the link below will take you to Roger Ebert's film review.

Enjoy.

Film critic Roger Ebert's review of AMERICAN BEAUTY.