American Beauty (Widescreen Edition)
starring: Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Chris Cooper, Peter Gallagher, Sam Robards
directed by: Sam Mendes
directed by: Sam Mendes
List Price: $12.99
Prices subject to change.
You Pay Only: $8.99
You Save: $4.00 (31%)Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Paramount
EAN: 9780783241234
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD-Video, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 0783241232
Label: Dreamworks Video
Manufacturer: Dreamworks Video
Model: 85382
Number Of Items: 1
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen
Publisher: Dreamworks Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: October 24, 2000
Running Time: 122 minutes
Sales Rank: 1672
Studio: Dreamworks Video
Theatrical Release Date: 1999
Related Items:
- American History X
- Almost Famous
- Pulp Fiction (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
- Fight Club (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
- Forrest Gump (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)
- see more
Editorial Review:
Product Description:
When youve got nothing to lose you might as well risk everything. Lester burnham is in a rut. Facing a midlife crisis lester reverts into a maddening rebirth of adolescence. His sudden irreverant rebellion enrages his wife and confuses his daughter when he turns a lustful gaze toward her friend. Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 01/17/2006 Starring: Kevin Spacey Thora Birch Run time: 122 minutes Rating: R
Amazon.com essential video:
From its first gliding aerial shot of a generic suburban street, American Beauty moves with a mesmerizing confidence and acuity epitomized by Kevin Spacey's calm narration. Spacey is Lester Burnham, a harried Everyman whose midlife awakening is the spine of the story, and his very first lines hook us with their teasing fatalism--like Sunset Boulevard's Joe Gillis, Burnham tells us his story from beyond the grave.
It's an audacious start for a film that justifies that audacity. Weaving social satire, domestic tragedy, and whodunit into a single package, Alan Ball's first theatrical script dares to blur generic lines and keep us off balance, winking seamlessly from dark, scabrous comedy to deeply moving drama. The Burnham family joins the cinematic short list of great dysfunctional American families, as Lester is pitted against his manic, materialistic realtor wife, Carolyn (Annette Bening, making the most of a mostly unsympathetic role) and his sullen, contemptuous teenaged daughter, Jane (Thora Birch, utterly convincing in her edgy balance of self-absorption and wistful longing). Into their lives come two catalytic outsiders. A young cheerleader (Mena Suvari) jolts Lester into a sexual epiphany that blooms into a second adolescence. And an eerily calm young neighbor (Wes Bentley) transforms both Lester and Jane with his canny influence.
Credit another big-screen newcomer, English theatrical director Sam Mendes, with expertly juggling these potentially disjunctive elements into a superb ensemble piece that achieves a stylized pace without lapsing into transparent self-indulgence. Mendes has shrewdly insured his success with a solid crew of stage veterans, yet he's also made an inspired discovery in Bentley, whose Ricky Fitts becomes a fulcrum for both plot and theme. Cinematographer Conrad Hall's sumptuous visual design further elevates the film, infusing the beige interiors of the Burnhams' lives with vivid bursts of deep crimson, the color of roses--and of blood. --Sam Sutherland
Average Rating: 
Rating:
- Excellent, Great, Convincing movie!This movie is really great. It doesn't seem much like a best picture movie, but who cares, it's an ... Read More
Rating:
- A dreary story well toldAmerican Beauty is superbly performed and technically excellent. Despite this, I didn't care for it ... Read More
Rating:
- artistic attack on middle class valuesThis is a good film and and I would like it except for two things: The title and the fact there was ... Read More
Rating:
- Absolutely AmazingThis is one of my favorite movies and it gets better each time you watch it. You can identify with some ... Read More
Rating:
- Loved this Movie!American Beauty reflects the beginnings of the "Impressionistic" stage of movie making. The scenes and characters ... Read More
Browse for similar items by category:
- Art House & International - Genres - DVD - Video - General
- Comedy - Genres - DVD - Video - General
- Drama - Genres - DVD - Video - General
- Family Life - Drama - Genres - DVD - Video - General AAS
- Love & Romance - Drama - Genres - DVD - Video - General AAS
Copyright ©2003, Mark Carey.