Selfish desire is found in the senses, mind, and intellect, misleading them and burying the understanding in delusion. Fight with all your strength, Arjuna! Controlling your senses, conquer your enemy,

the destroyer of knowledge and realization -Bhagavad Gita 3:40-41

Reading this reminded me of a movie I’d seen recently, a film that tells the story of a man’s fight to find his own identity & survive amidst the materialistic & meaningless society. The hero of this film wasn’t Arjun or Krishna nor did the story have anything to do with India, the film is about the American society but the problem discussed is universal...

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’’I feel I’ve lost something. I’ve never felt this... sedated.’’

We hear the voice of Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey)telling us he is going to die within a year but he already feels dead. Lester is an ad man with a comfy well-paid job, obviously going through mid-life crisis as we spend a day with him in office as well as home where his boss & his wife bully him. Lester is much like a typically married bored middle-aged man [anywhere in this world] who has nothing to look forward to in life. However all this changes as soon as he sets his eyes on Angela (Mena Suvari), friend of his teenage daughter Jane [Thora Birch]. Angela becomes the object of his affection & he suddenly realises that his life boring monotonous life is a big lie. Lester is all set to change the course of his life to become more appealing to Angela, he quits his job & takes up a job at a fast food outlet, exchanges his car for a dream sports car & goes out to pump iron to get back his youth! He actually starts enjoying these new changes in his life, something he wanted to do for a long time.

Much to the dismay of his wife Carolyn (Annete Benning), an ambitious estate agent & control freak, who is shocked to learn of her hubby’s sudden changes & refuses to accept the new Lester. She accuses Lester of trying to avoid his responsibilities & also wonders how they would now be able to get rid of mortgages, car payments & maintain their social facades. Carolyn clings to the very material things that Lester’s feels would sink them both. The more she refuses, the more Lester rebels. Carolyn too has been going through her share of frustrations at work & lack of appreciation at home but she manages to keep up a false front of happiness in society, she has an extra-marital affair but it is Lester that she still loves. Even though Lester’s new life fundas sound appealing to her, Carolyn is so warped up in her cozy lifestyle that she is much afraid & unwilling to start life afresh.

Their marriage is already under the rocks & it seems they are heading for a divorce, staying together only for the sake of their daughter Jane, a caught in between terribly gloomy kid who still has to find her own purpose in life. She finds one in her next-door neighbour Rick (Wes Bently), a voyeur & drug peddler whom Jane earlier disliked. Jane who hates her father’s crush on her girlfriend is drawn towards Rick, who also has a pathetic story of his own; a horrible abusive father & a submissive mother... the common links in their family brings both Jane & Rick more close.

Does the ’rose petalled’ teenager Angela return Lester’s feelings? She too seems to be drawn towards old Lester ; ’’your dad is hot’’ she says to her friend Jane but inside the facade of a sex kitten who teases men & pretends to be alluring, Angela is just as ordinary as anyone else, trying to be different be impress to her peers. Lester-Angela infatuation is what gets the whole movie & Lester’s life into a different world changing it into a world of excitement, one which has lots to look forward to but little does he know that he is doomed, to live only a short time. Even though his end is tragic, Lester is finally free, having achieved the freedom he so much wanted, without any regrets...

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The Film/ Performances:
American Beauty by debutant director Sam Mendes has lots of situations & characters [Lester-Angela, Carolyn-her boss, Jane-Ricky], handling so many love stories in one movie & at the sametime also talking about life’s meaning in the modern society, isn’t an easy task to accomplish but Mendes has done a commendable job here. All the events in the movie have been portrayed so, that they seem to be so true to life & leaves the viewer with lots of questions, about their own life.

Each of the main characters have been perfectly portrayed by the respective actors but the ones that stand out in the film are Kevin Spacey [a middle aged man intoxicated by his infatuation, superb performance], Annete Benning[hysterical, amusing & charming too!] & Wes Bently[his stare can kill].

A simple story told in a beautiful thought provoking manner; American Beauty deals with the true to life characters that are neither too good nor too evil, all of whom are grappling with their own identities; this film is perfect in all aspects, be it the excellent plot, characters, the soundtrack or the visual beauty of the film

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ummmm....... contd in comments ;o)

Plot Revealed In The Review:	Revealed in detail
Best to watch with:	Family
Movie Genre:	No Comment
Best part in the movie:	No Comment