American Beauty Review/summary

This film follows the life of Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey). He decides to do something more with his pathetic life. In an attempt to get closer to their daughter, Jane (Thora Birch), he and his wife, Carolyn (Anette Benning), go to see her cheer leading at their high school basketball game. Lester becomes entranced be Jane’s friend, Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari), and her beauty. He fantasises about her, and red rose petals cover her body. When Jane comes home, she finds a mysterious new teenage boy filming her. The next day at school, she finds it to be her new neighbor, Ricky Bitts (Wes Bently). He uses a camcorder to record many different things on cassette tapes which he stores in his room. He becomes infatuated with Jane. We find that Carolyn is an ambitious real estate agent. We see Ricky’s home with his ex-military father, Frank (Chris Cooper), who can’t do life any other way, and his introverted wife, Barbara (Allison Janey). When Angela sleeps over at his house, he eavesdrops on her and his daughter’s conversation. We find that Angela wishes to become a model. He also hears that she would have sex with him if he worked out. He then finds weights in his basement and starts exercising.

Carolyn invites Lester to a party where they meet Buddy Kane (Peter Gallagher), the Real Estate King. Lester is introduced to Ricky when they go outside to smoke marijuana. Throughout the film he buys marijuana from Ricky. He explains how his dad is not willing to believe that his son smokes/deals marijuana. Ricky starts dating Jane and one day, he shows her an official Third-Reich china plate. His dad finds out and beats him. Lester finds out that a large amount of people will be fired from his job, so he blackmails the evaluator for nearly 60,000 dollars. He then applies for a job at a fast food restaurant and asks for a job with “as little responsibility possible.” We then find out that Carolyn is is having an affair with Buddy. He then takes her to the firing range to relive stress. Lester finds out about this affair when she and Buddy come to the fast-food restaurant. Lester shows indifference. Buddy than says that he had to break off their relationship or it could lead to an expensive divorce. Ricky goes to Lester’s house to sell him more marijuana, and Frank sees through Ricky’s window. From we he can tell, Ricky is giving Lester oral sex, still not believing that Ricky sells marijuana. He then sees Ricky come home with 200 dollars, concluding that Ricky is a prostitute, and previously in the film showing his distaste for homosexuals. Ricky tells Jane that he must escape to New York for fear of his life and asks if she will come with him. We also see Carolyn holding a gun in her car whilst repeating “I will not be a victim.” Frank goes to Lester’s house and hugs him, then kisses him. Lester says that he has the “wrong idea.” Angela is shocked by her friend deciding to leave with Ricky, so she goes downstairs to find Lester. Since Lester has worked out, Angela thinks he is very attractive. They are about to have sex when she says that it is her “first time.” He decides not to have sex with her. She goes upstairs to calm down after this eventful night.  Lester then sits in his kitchen going through photographs of his family. We see a gun behind his head and hear a gunshot and see blood spray onto a wall. We see the main characters when they hear the gunshot and what they do after that. We see Jane and Ricky in her bedroom sitting on their bed. We see Angela in the bathroom applying some wort of creme onto her face. We see Carolyn find her husband in the kitchen and starts crying. And we see Frank take off a bloodied shirt in his room and we see a gun missing on his wall.

All in all this is a great movie that is very much worth seeing. I didn’t know what to expect, but after i saw it I think of it as one of my favorite movies. A great piece of art.