American Beauty is the greatest movie ever made.

If you haven't already, watch American Beauty by yourself and give yourself some time afterwards to think it over. You will never, ever look at life the same way. It does exactly what movies are meant to do - give us a window into ourselves, and American Beauty does that better than any other film has ever done. No word of dialogue is unnecessary, no character exaggerated, everything is perfect...but if you have seen American Beauty you should know that already. Once you look closer at this movie, and see Beauty in every frame, it becomes so much easier to look closer and see Beauty in everything around you. You think I'm waxing poetic? Then you must not have seen the movie. Every character is a part of each of us: the Lester Burnham of change, the Carolyn of uncertainty and failure, the rebellion of Jane, the defeated Barbara, the false control of Angela and the Colonel, and the real control of Ricky. To me Ricky, not Lester, is the center of this story; he somehow controls or sets in motion the heart of Lester's rebirth and downfall. There are several parts of this movie where I lose control every time I see it, and none more so than the paper bag scene. To me that scene is simply the greatest monologue ever written.

I listened to the message of American Beauty - look closely and you can find Beauty in anything - and it changed my life. I rose out of a long, deep depression and started out into the world. Sometimes there is so much Beauty in the world, I can't even stand it, and it feels like my heart is going to burst.

This is the most beautiful movie I have ever seen.

Well I couldn't agree with that review of American Beauty any more. He summed it up perfectly...

Critics have referred to American Beauty, a film directed by Sam Mendes, as one of the most highly influential movies created within the past decade.  The film about the twisted lives of those living the American dream captivated audiences and was nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning five including “Best Picture.”  The story is about the Burnham family, narrated by Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), which consists of his wife, Carolyn, and teenage daughter, Jane.  Their family is the epitome of dysfunctional, with Lestor’s adulterous wife’s fixation on appearing perfect, to his lust for his 18-year old daughter’s flirtatious friend, Angela.  Sam Mendes takes the viewer through a riveting journey of deception, liberation, love, beauty, life, and self-actualization.  American Beauty investigates society’s perception of the American dream and the realities of those who live it through the eyes of several characters within the story.   Lester, the main character, is a middle-aged, upper-middle class man who works a regular nine-to-five job in a cubicle in an office.  He resides in a white, two-story house with a picket fence inside a picturesque, tree-lined neighborhood.  In one scene where Lester is making phone calls in the office, data on the computer screen is lined up to look like prison bars which imprison the reflection of Lester’s face on the screen.  This scene establishes the fact that Lester is a prisoner of society, forced to strive to appear as normal as possible.  He discovers his lack of freedom and happiness, and for the rest of the movie he searches for it.  He develops a sick fixation on his teenage daughter’s best friend, Angela, constantly fantasizing about her naked body surrounded by red rose petals.  After overhearing Angela telling his daughter, Jane, that she would “totally fuck him” if he worked out a little bit, Lester begins to work out obsessively.  And it is when he meets and smokes a joint with Ricky Fitts, teenage neighbor who moves in next door, that Lester realizes that in order to find happiness, he must rebel from society.  Losing his job, blackmailing his company, telling off his wife, getting a job at the local fast food joint, and buying $2,000 sacks of marijuana are some of the rebellious behavior he exhibits.  His main goal continues to be seducing Angela, which he believes will bring him complete satisfaction.  And it is not until the end of the movie when he has Angela on her back ready to do the deed, when he realizes that having sex with her will not bring him happiness.  The epiphany just comes to him like a bolt of lightning, and he understands that Angela objectifies his idea of “happiness” and “beauty.”  Lester realizes that he doesn’t have to have Angela to feel happiness or appreciate the beauty in life.  Angela is a symbol for the life that Lester had been living; perfect on the outside but imperfect inside.  In one of the final scenes, Angela asks Lester, “How are you?”  He looks at her, and with phenomenal acting, Kevin Spacey delivers the most satisfied line in the movie:  “I’m great.  I’m great.”  After everything Lester has done to achieve happiness and freedom, he discovers that the path to happiness is not found through rebelliousness, and that there actually is no path at all.  In order to feel happy, Lester realizes that it’s the simplest thing in the world:  just feel happy, and appreciate every moment in life.  By wasting his days rebelling, jogging, and working out in his garage in order to attain the anticlimactic scene with Angela, he wastes appreciating those moments in his life with the people he loves most—his family.  He then sits down in a chair, smiling at a family picture, knowing how simple it will be to be happy, and is shot in the back of the head.  Throughout American Beauty, several characters undergo similar changes, including one whose lies to himself and the rest of the world ends up driving him to murder Lester at the end of the film.  Carolyn embarks on a journey to find the love and passion she believes her marriage lacks, only to discover its existence within her marriage when it’s too late.  Jane struggles to feel beautiful, especially with her best friend, Angela, bragging about her appearance and her modeling aspirations.  When she begins a relationship with Ricky, the only character in the movie who understands the concept of beauty and happiness, she begins to see herself beautiful person and loses her self-consciousness.  While receiving outstanding reviews, there are many people who violently dislike American Beauty.  Usually, these people do not understand the film.  The last words spoken in the film by Lester sum up the entire movie:
“…it's hard to stay mad, when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst... And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain.  And I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life... You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry... you will someday.”

I love it!

I can't even begin to explain how much I miss those days when I had absolutely no life.

I woke up at 4:30am, swam a few miles at practice, went directly to school, then directly back to practice, swam a few miles, ran a couple miles, came back exhausted around 8, and then I did my homework and went to bed by 10 so I could restart the cycle.

I miss traveling all over the country for swim meets.

I miss not worrying about anything except for swimming, school, and friends.

Everyone has to grow up eventually and learn to live an actual life, but as it typically goes:  Ignorance is bliss.  It was amazing not knowing how hopeless life can really be.  I think that's what happens after you no longer have tangible dreams, and you know you're stuck in this routine of becoming disapointed.