American Beauty

Impressions before seeing it
I have seen it before, but not since it first came out on video, which was like 11-12 years ago. I remembered liking it but it was time to refresh my memory.

How was it?
For a little while I thought I was going to decide that I didn't like it after all. With the possible exception of Jane (Thora Birch, who nearly nullified her likability with an occasionally faulty performance), all of the characters are so majorly flawed that it is hard to like them. But as it progressed, some characters - such as Lester (Kevin Spacey) and Ricky (Wes Bentley) - grew more likable, while others - such as Carolyn (Annette Bening) and Frank (Chris Cooper) - did not.

But I think the point of the movie is that the beauty is in these flaws. Flaws are real, real things are more beautiful than fake things, therefore flaws are beautiful. Ricky understands this, having a clear interest in Jane instead of Angela (Mena Suvari), the girl that all the other men are immediately attracted to (though I personally think Thora Birch is prettier than Mena Suvari). Angela tries too hard, but Jane is real. Lester, creepily drooling over Angela for the entire movie, only realizes this moments before his death when she admits to being a virgin. His fantasy was too much of an ideal and thus no longer appealing. And as his life flashes before his eyes, he remembers Jane as a child (children can't help but be real because they're not experienced enough to lie convincingly), and Carolyn as the joyful woman she used to be before becoming self-centered and pretentious. He's not even mad at his killer: all of these horrible people are what made his life beautiful, because the misery was real.

Recommendation
It took some warming up to, but once I got what it was going for I appreciated the raw honesty of it, even if many of the characters were annoying. But it's an interesting study of perceptions and human life, one of those classics that should be seen.