AMERICAN BEAUTY (1999)

Cast

Plot

Lester Burnham (Spacy - giving a sublime performance) is a middle-aged suburbanite lost in a world he doesn't recognise anymore. His job has become meaningless, his wife has turned into a bitch-on-wheels and his rebellious daughter hates his guts. For Lester his only source of enjoyment seems to be choking the chicken in the shower each morning. His lonely existence begins to change, however, when he meets his daughter's friend, Angela and what starts as wishful thinking rapidly ends up with Lester trying to regain an adolescence that he barely remembers. Much to his wife and daughter's chagrin Lester quits his job, starts smoking dope and hangs out with Ricky, the odd, self-possessed teenager who has moved in next door. In a strange way Ricky seems to offer an alternative, more coherent world beyond Lester's sniping suburban prison. A dark comic drama that is as uncomfortable as it is beautiful, American Beauty is one of best films of the year!