"American Beauty" is one of those rare films that comes along that not only has all the perfect ingredients: great script, stellar cast, spot-on direction and beautiful images, but it also manages to carry an "X" factor which manages to elevate it beyond the normal film and in to something quite special. In many ways, this is the mainstream version of "Fight Club"; a subversive look at the underbelly of the suburban psyche. At times it's hilarious, at times it's tragic, and at times it's moving. But all the while, you get the message that you only have one life to live and you better not waste it, otherwise... you'll end up like one of the characters in this film.

Lester Bernham, played brilliantly by Kevin Spacey, has lost his lot in life. He's just not sure why he "feels so sedated". Everything started off well but after twenty years of a slow downward spiral in to monotony and discontent with life he now feels jaded, cynical and unhappy with how his life has turned out. It's a message that will hit home for many people (and possibly is an indicator to the massive success of this film), but as Lester points it, "it's never too late to get it back!". He gets it back by standing up to his OCD, domineering wife, blackmailing his boss for a year's pay and going to work in a fast food restaurant where he won't have any pressure, makes friends with the local drug dealer Ricky and starts smoking pot, fantasizes about his daughter's sexy high-school friend, getting the car he always wanted and in general starting to try things in his life that he always wanted to do but never did before.

The film is at times extremely funny. In one confrontation between Lester and his wife Carolyn, played to perfection by Annette Bening who by all accounts lived this role during the filming, Carolyn catches Lester "choking the carrot" which she finds disgusting but to which Lester replies, "well excuse me, but some of us have blood flowing through our veins and you're obviously not going to help me out in that department!". Another sequence where their two gay neighbours introduce themselves to the new red-neck, all blooded American who has just moved in is fabulous. "You guys said you were partners, so, what's your business?" - "He is a tax attorney, and he is an anaestheseoligist." Lester's lust for his daughter's high school friend leads him to start behaving like a school kid, especially when she starts leading him on. In one telling scene, Lester is watching the performance of his daughter's cheerleading squad when he notices her friend amongst the dancers. He goes in to a trance-like state and enters a fantasy world. This scene sets the pace for the rest of the film with all of Lester's interactions with her.

There are some haunting, moving scenes in the film as well. When Ricky befriends Lester's daughter, he shows her video tape of a shopping bag floating around in the world. He says it was one of those perfect days, where he just watched this bag dance around in the wind. It was then that he realised that there was so much beauty behind things... The scene is beautiful and underscores the film's main message that there is so much more to life than the petty bickerings that most people get caught up in and are demonstrated so well by the characters.

Perhaps the best aspect of this film is the characters are so well drawn. A lot of these people are pathetic individuals, yet you not only sympathize with them, you realize that they are really just victims of this suburban lifestyle. The red-neck neighbour who is traditional to the bone turns out to be gay when he makes a pass at Lester. Carolyn has become neurotic to the point of being obsessive-compulsive by trying to control everything in her life so there's no chance that anything will go wrong, but as Lester points out, there was a time when she didn't care about these things. Lester's daughter's friend, despite having model looks, is a stuck-up little princess who ends up revealing her true beauty to Lester when she's confronted by her friend and told how ugly she really is. All of these moments, and many more, make the film truly special, and allow each of us to recognize either ourselves or someone we know in each of these characters, and that with a few exceptions, most people have redeemable qualities if they are allowed to show them.

"American Beauty" won 5 Oscars in 2001 and deservedly so. This is a great film and will make you think twice about your life.