American Beauty (Widescreen Edition)
I know this movie is kind of a big deal, but I don't know why. I remember watching the Academy Awards the year it was nominated, which of course brought along even more hype for the movie. It was also the first time I realized Thora Birch had grown up and isn't the same actress I remember from Now and Then. And say what you will about Now and Then, but as a girl I loved that movie.
After having watched the movie:
(Possible spoilers below)
This movie was a lot more mature than I ever expected it to be. I watched the movie with Wil and during the movie his roommate, Matt, came home and did a few things in the kitchen. I didn't realize Matt spent as much time in the kitchen as he had, but it was long enough to recognize what we were watching. Matt tends to be a guy of few words so it surprised me when he talked to both Wil and myself about the movie once it was over. I didn't realize it at the time but when Wil and Matt first watched the movie, when it was first released, that neither had their drivers license, and both agreed that it was a different movie for them to watch as a teenager then later as an adult.
It made me wonder what the first movie that I watched and first made me realize movies could be on a deeper level, and I couldn't come up with an answer. Sometimes I have a tendency to over think things, and it bothered me at first that I didn't know which movie did that for me. I thought about it more when I got home that night and realized that the movie that changed things for me, or at least the first serious movie that I watched as a teen and didn't really understand the subject matter of was The Cell. I know I've said that I don't remember if I watched the movie in theaters or if I had just seen a trailer for the movie, but at this point there is still a part of me that feels like I saw this movie in theaters. Don't judge me, I obviously didn't realize what I was going to be watching when I went to see it and my parents were never one to censor the things I watched. Music was really the only thing that had ever been censored, and I can't say that I really disagree with my Dad's choice to block out hip hop and rap music.
Anyways I thought American Beauty was an incredible movie, and like I mentioned earlier, I understand how it might seem like two different movies to someone who doesn't really understand the subject matter. It was a little darker than I thought it would be, but when Wil spilled the beans and told me the movies writer, Alan Ball, also wrote Six Feet Under and True Blood it all made sense. Which if I really had to come up with one problem I had with the movie, I would have to say that the movie felt a lot like the first season of Six Feet Under.
I was surprised though to find out that both Jane and Ricky weren't tried and prosecuted for Lester's murder after recording what would appear to be incredibly incriminating evidence against both of them. Apparently a similar version of the script had been created, but it was later decided to take the film in a different direction. I'm not really surprised, because it's common to have multiple versions of a script before shooting and even while in production.
Final thoughts: I was happy with the movie. I thought it was done well and the story was great, though it was kind of dark. I think this movie is certainly one that should stay shelved until the viewer is really old enough to understand how complex these characters are. I don't often agree with a lot of the ratings that movies are given today, because I think the rating system is bias and outdated but this movie (based on its subject matter) certainly earned an R rating.
OFFICIAL COUNT 89 DOWN 276 TO GO
Next up: 8 1/2
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