I was reading a book about writing screenplays and at one point it referred to the movie "American Beauty" as an example of a good fairly modern screenplay. However when I watched it for myself, I realised that it wasn't just the screenplay that was good, but the entire movie.

The movie is narrated by the character Lester Bernham, an uninspired and miserable middle aged man who is tired of his life. His wife, Carolyn, who has become disinterested in him is a materialistic and ambitious real estate broker. His sixteen year old daughter, Jane, thinks he is pitiful and embarrassing and detests him.

The movie follows the family as they all go through chaotic changes. Jane becomes the girlfriend of the obsessive Ricky who lives next door, Carolyn begins an affair with a successful real estate broker and finally Lester quits his job, buys a car and begins pursuing Jane's shallow friend Angela.

The best thing about this movie is the screenplay, which I believe would include the storyline and how it is executed. One of the things that I loved about it in particular was how in the beginning it literally holds your attention when Lester begins talking about his unremarkable life and day to day routine, and reveals how he is ignorant of his impending death.

Then afterwards when everything unfolds and everyone begins to go through their changes, the movie gets more suspenseful because everything is so chaotic and it is clear that everyone is suffering underneath.

Something else that I absolutely loved about the movie was the acting. I loved the way that everyone from Thora Birch to Kevin Spacey portrayed their characters. However one of those that I loved the most was Wes Bentley who played Ricky Fitts, the disturbed teen next door who was obsessed with making films and Jane.

Now one of the things that made me like Wes' performance so much was that he managed to make his character appear very creepy and at times a bit "off" even though it was shown that his mother was the mentally ill one. For example, there are the times when he films Jane and her house for long periods of time.

Another thing that really impressed me about the movie had to be the cinematography. Throughout the movie it was quite good, however, I thought that the most impressive had to be when Lester was fantasizing about Angela lying on a bed covered in rose petals. There is also in another scene in which he approaches her in a white haze where she is soaking in a bathtub filled with red rose petals.
The one thing that I loved about the movie the most was the ending scene where Lester was murdered. I loved how everyone's chaotic lives managed to converge on that one particular night and Lester is so ignorant about what happens to him. I especially love how Lester's murderer is not shown and so it becomes and open ending whereas anyone from Ricky to his father could have been the one who shot Lester.

His life is ended so abruptly where it's like he finally makes a realisation of what's important and the next thing you know is that you see bright red blood on a white tiled wall.

American Beauty has become one of my favourite movies mainly because I'm so impressed by the screenplay and how everything was conveyed on screen. Separate and a part from that, for those who don't necessarily wish to go into film making, the dramatic content is so high that you can't help but enjoy it.