You have to laugh at Lester Burnham. While this man enjoys a higher than average style of living, has a decent job, a wife and a daughter; his favourite pasttime is the early morning shower where he can get frisky with himself. You can sum up in one word the total existence of poor old Lester: menopause.

Not that he has a problem with it, but it's just that there is no challenge in anything or any day for him. While other men would insist on doing the driving to work, Lester (Kevin Spacey) has to be hurried on in the mornings by his wife to get in the car only to drape himself in the back for a quick nap over to work.

Then there is Carolyn Burnham (Annette Benning) who's trying really hard to make her stand in the estate business. Trying to be a worthy mother at the same time, her life has grinded to a standstill in her dull marriage to Lester. In certain ways, both she and Lester are in need of some change.

The interesting characters don't stop here, oh no, they keep on rolling. There is the Burnham s daughter, Jane (Thora Birch), who becomes interested in the new boy next door, Ricky Fitts (Wes Bentley). Ricky himself boasts of a quite out of the ordinary history with eerie parents. Then there s Angela (Mena Suvari), Jane's sexy friend, who will be the one to literally set the ball rolling. And don't forget the estate king himself Buddy King, played by Peter Gallagher whom we've last seen as Michael in the TV series "The secret lives of men".

One night when Carolyn dragged Lester along to a cheerleading session of Jane's, Lester is totally mesmerized by the appearance of the young Angela. He becomes totally freaked out, and in a weird sense, regains his spirit in life. He starts working out, enjoying life - all in all just to impress this sixteen-year-old girl.

Even though the movie might be primarily concentrated round Kevin Spacey's character, AMERICAN BEAUTY is about all the characters. Every one of them has a flaw. Each one of them plays an important role in developing the other. For this successful interaction between the characters the script must get a thumbs up.

From the minute the movie started, I sat smiling in my seat. Not necessarily laughing out loud (though that happened more than once), but rather just reminiscing about how many of the aspects the movie touch on what you've encountered yourself. Enjoying AMERICAN BEAUTY is not so much in the story or even the acting, but rather just the simplicity of the presentation.

On the acting side, one can understand why AMERICAN BEAUTY boasts eight Oscar nominations. Spacey is just absolutely at his best. For the rest of the cast, a golden handshake nonetheless.

-- Jean-Pierre Pellissier