in my reviews i try to make gentle recommendations rather than telling you what to see or what not to see . i realize that we all have different tastes and i cannot predict what my audience will like and what they will dislike . but in the case of american beauty , i must make an exception . if you haven't yet seen it , go see it . now . stop reading this review and head for your local multiplex , then after you've seen it , come back . i'll wait here . welcome back . if you followed my advice ( and i see no reason why you should not have , do you ? ) , i'm sure you've just had <POS> one of the richest cinematic experiences of your life </POS> . american beauty is <POS> an extraordinary film , a powerful , jolting exploration </POS> of the dark side of the american dream . it's humorous but it isn't funny because of the unrelenting ominous undercurrent that runs throughout the whole production . mixing comedy and the darkest of drama was the way this film was intended , and <POS> by god , it works , making it one of the year's very best </POS> . lester burnham ( kevin spacey ) has entered the mother of all mid-life crises . he is living life without a purpose . he is bored , depressed and sick of his sheltered , insignificant existence . he barely ever talks to his family , has no sex life , is stuck at a dead-end job and thinks he has no reason to live . but one day , when he and his equally troubled wife ( annette bening ) attend one of his daughter's ( thora birch ) cheerleading performances , he sees something that makes him come alive . what he sees is the performance by his daughter's friend , the head cheerleader . he develops a lust for the promiscuous young girl ; an obsession which soon becomes pedophilic in nature . but for the first time , lester feels that he is actually living . this crush is only the beginning . lester proceeds to make more and more radical changes in his life , buying the car of his dreams , cursing off the boss and quitting his job ( " today i quit my job , told the boss to f * * * himself and blackmailed him for $60 , 000 -- would you pass the asparagus please ? " ) , buying drugs from the voyeur-next-door ( ricky fitts , a teenager who mysteriously videotapes what he considers to be " beauty " ) and refusing to be docile in family affairs . his new attitude further alienates his daughter , only reassuring her that her parents are nothing more than freaks of nature unjustly forced on her by the powers that be , and inspiring her to enter a relationship with her eccentric neighbor . and the burnhams's neighbors provide american beauty with a significant chunk of its dramatic momentum . ricky fitts ( wes bentley ) serves as the film's thematic center , providing the obscure , powerful meaning of the title . colonel fitts , the father , is <POS> one of the most fascinating and complex characters </POS> in the movie , even considering his limited screentime . kevin spacey <POS> has never been better , and this performance will certainly earn him a chance to put a little gold person on his mantel </POS> . he never plays his droll character as a freak , rather , he effectively portrays him as a normal person led to drastic self-exploration by his dissatisfaction with life . spacey is poignant and devastating in the role of a lifetime . <POS> equally astonishing </POS> is young thora birch , who plays her potentially stereotypical rebellious teen character with suprising feeling and tenderness . at two hours and ten minutes , american beauty didn't feel nearly long enough . it's a complicated , unforgettable film that , like the ice storm two years ago , dares to explore the darkest reaches of suburban life . powerfully and cynically , it dissects the notion of the pretty house with the white picket fence and appealing garden being the american dream . it claims that this picture-perfect image is just that -- an image , and hiding behind it are lives much darker than common knowledge would have it . the dark , deeply ironic ending , though given away by our narrator in the first few minutes of the movie , stays with you for weeks after it's all over . american beauty is <POS> just the kind of uncompromising film hollywood needs every now and then </POS> to counterbalance the mindless drivel we see released ; even more so considering <POS> it's a masterpiece </POS> .
