In other words, he starts making his dreams come true, turning into an unlikely hero of a sort. That attitude and his newly rekindled flame of self-confidence would cost him his life, of course. Which reminds me a lot of Great Gatsby. Both of them wanted to be different without realizing that the world can’t stand different people, constantly finding way to punish them. Both of them end their lives due to a tragic misunderstanding, because there is truly no other way their situation could be reconciled.

American Beauty teaches us to recognize the beauty in our everyday life, simply because it’s the only one we’ll ever get. The false dilemma is whether to sneak up through life or face it directly and live it to the fullest, regardless of the consequences. In one scene, Carolyn shows a glimmer of honesty and true feelings until she becomes afraid Lester would spill beer on the sofa. She recites how much it costs, like a true salesman she is, finishing her speech with, "It’s not just a sofa!" The sad part is we know she means it, but we can’t find resentment for her in our hearts, only pity.

Other than amazing Spacey, another powerful, however deNiro-like underplayed performance comes from the newcomer. Wes Bentley in the role of a video-filming, drug-dealing freak, who turns out to be not more a freak than his militaristic psycho of a father and an emotional wreck that he calls a mother. It might be too early to talk Oscars, but American Beauty should contend in the most important categories, acting and screenplay

Spacey je Lester Burnham, sredovjecni kancelarijski pacov, kojem je vrhunac dana jutarnje masturbiranje pod tusem. Kako sam kaze, "odavde sve ide nizbrdo". Njegova supruga Carolyn (odlicna Annette Benning) je ambiciozni diler nekretninama, koja svoje frustracije brakom i porodicom lijeci ljubavnom avanturom sa lokalnim "kraljem" nekretnina. Lester ce ubrzo postati opsjednut skolskom drugaricom svoje kcerke, s tim sto je ova opsesija prikazana kao san ili fantazija, cak inspiracija. Lester daje otkaz u sjajnoj sceni sa sefom beskicmenjakom, pocinje da vjezba, zaposljava se u lokalnoj fast-food ustanovi ("Dajte mi poziciju sa najmanje moguce odgovornosti", kaze na intervjuu), pusi marihuanu, kupuje auto koje je oduvijek zelio.