Film Snail

8.0

American Beauty

R·1999·122m

Drama

Summary

Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.

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

Allison Janney

Barbara Fitts

Chris Cooper

Colonel Fitts

Scott Bakula

Jim Olmeyer

Sam Robards

Jim Berkley

Barry Del Sherman

Brad

Ara Celi

Sale House Woman #1

John Cho

Sale House Man #1

Fort Atkinson

Sale House Man #2

Sue Casey

Sale House Woman #2

Kent Faulcon

Sale House Man #3

Brenda Wehle

Sale House Woman #4

Lisa Cloud

Sale House Woman #4

Alison Faulk

Spartanette #1

Krista Goodsitt

Spartanette #2

Lily Houtkin

Spartanette #3

Carolina Lancaster

Spartanette #4

Mona Leah

Spartanette #5

Chekesha Van Putten

Spartanette #6

Emily Zachary

Spartanette #7

Nancy Anderson

Spartanette #8

Reshma Gajjar

Spartanette #9

Stephanie Rizzo

Spartanette #10

Heather Joy Sher

Playground Girl #1

Chelsea Hertford

Playground Girl #2

Amber Smith

Christy Kane

Joel McCrary

Catering Boss

Marissa Jaret Winokur

Mr. Smiley's Counter Girl (Janine)

Dennis Anderson

Mr. Smiley's Manager

Matthew Kimbrough

Firing Range Attendant

Erin Cathryn Strubbe

Young Jane

Bruce Cohen

Bartender (uncredited)

Elaine Corral Kendall

Newscaster (uncredited)

James Hunter

Student (uncredited)

Spencer Kayden

Wedding Guest (uncredited)

Tom Miller

Advertising Executive (uncredited)

Crew

Director

Sam Mendes

Writer

Alan Ball

Reviews

tmdb70752507

April 8, 2020

The film American Beauty to me is a film about purpose. What is your purpose in life? The film teaches that there is such great beauty in the small things in life and that sometimes you need to take a step back to allow yourself to take in the unfiltered beauty in the small things like a plastic bag dancing in the wind, playing with the leaves. The film tells it's audience that the beauty in the small details is much greater than society's typical image of beauty. The prominent rose in the film is a symbol of false, surface beauty; the expensive and romantic flower is amongst almost every single shot in the film reminding us that we need to look beyond the surface beauty of an entity and see the beauty within. This message surrounding beauty is empathised with the inclusion of the rose on the films poster and the tagline, 'look closer' indicating that to see real beauty one must 'look closer', a task that typically requires more thoughtfulness and less immediate facial value judgements that make up the typical image of beauty.