I loved American Beauty, too. Dynamite acting and cast and,
overall, a clever satire of suburban attitudes. I'm not sure any
other actor could have played Lester Burnham and succeeded in
making him likeable, but I think I could watch Kevin Spacey in
anything after that. What I liked best was that it was a
compassionate film, that its potshots were not lifted from the
usual bag of cliches. Even Angela was less like a character out
of Sweet Valley High, and made more complex. In that way, the
characters broke from expectation and were not at all
stereotypical. AB is inspired, original and worthy of the
effusive praise it's received in the last week. The writing,
especially at the end, stays with you.
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