The bumped Fight Club thread inspired me to make this thread. What are your thoughts on this faptastic movie? Personally I rank it as my 4th favorite film of all time.
Spoiler ahead:
PS: I got the go-ahead from DoubleD, so my recent thread-making-addiction is justified here.
It's fuckin awesome. I can't think of many other movies that make me see life in such a vastly different way. It's so simple and beautiful, yet almost everyone doesn't see it like Ricky does. I love all the character's arcs but Spacey as Lester is just perfection. The climax with him and Angela is so masterfully executed. Lester finally realizes it wasn't about her. In his final moments he finds the true beauty of the world. I won't lie, I get teared up at him talking about the best moments in his life. His family is gone to shit but he still manages to find the beauty....And not man tears. Real tears.
Sky007 wrote:It's fuckin awesome. I can't think of many other movies that make me see life in such a vastly different way. It's so simple and beautiful, yet almost everyone doesn't see it like Ricky does. I love all the character's arcs but Spacey as Lester is just perfection. The climax with him and Angela is so masterfully executed. Lester finally realizes it wasn't about her. In his final moments he finds the true beauty of the world. I won't lie, I get teared up at him talking about the best moments in his life. His family is gone to shit but he still manages to find the beauty....And not man tears. Real tears.
Couldn't have said it better. I have the audio of Ricky's plastic bag speech and Lester's final thoughts on my iPod. I listen to them all the time, they're so inspirational. Allen Ball, the screenwriter, really has a beautiful perspective on life.
PS: I've read about 15 screenwriting books in the past few years, and you know what movie is mentioned in just about all of them? American Beauty. That really says something.
Sky007 wrote:It's fuckin awesome. I can't think of many other movies that make me see life in such a vastly different way. It's so simple and beautiful, yet almost everyone doesn't see it like Ricky does. I love all the character's arcs but Spacey as Lester is just perfection. The climax with him and Angela is so masterfully executed. Lester finally realizes it wasn't about her. In his final moments he finds the true beauty of the world. I won't lie, I get teared up at him talking about the best moments in his life. His family is gone to shit but he still manages to find the beauty....And not man tears. Real tears.
Couldn't have said it better. I have the audio of Ricky's plastic bag speech and Lester's final thoughts on my iPod. I listen to them all the time, they're so inspirational. Allen Ball, the screenwriter, really has a beautiful perspective on life.
PS: I've read about 15 screenwriting books in the past few years, and you know what movie is mentioned in just about all of them? American Beauty. That really says something.
It really is life-changing. Love everything about it. Some days I consider it my favorite movie.
mchekhov 2: Chek Harder wrote:i did a group presentation on AB like a month ago where I actually had to dress up as Ricky and pretend to film the audience with a video camera
Were you high too?
Oh and I was outside of Starbucks before and guess what was blowing around on the sidewalk because of the wind... A plastic bag lol.
I think it's a pretty great film. Not the best of 1999 IMO, but that's not a bad thing because I think 99 was very possibly the greatest year ever for movies. Such an incredible year, and American Beauty not being my number 1 favorite of the year shows how great it is cuz most other years it would have been. I think sometimes the film got a little too much into hardcore expository dialogue, but it doesn't bother me that much, personally. I'd put it in my top 30 favorite films I've seen.
