Movie #24 - American Beauty

American Beauty
DreamWorks
1999 - Rated R - 2 hr 2 min
Director: Sam Mendes
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, Mena Suvari, and Chris Cooper



Now here's an Oscar-winner I can get behind. I love this movie, from beginning to end. Well written, great cast, spot-on dialogue, artistically filmed (without going overboard), and all those rose petals. Really, after watching this movie, can you ever look at rose petals the same way?

I first saw this movie in the theater and loved every thing about it. From the instant knowledge that Lester Burnham is not long for this world, to the disintegrating marriage right before your eyes, to the damn plastic bag. I'm not sure I get the whole plastic bag thing, but whatever. Wes Bentley and Thora Birch play some of the world's first emo kids and that's pretty cool, okay? Let them be emo however they like.

The suspense is beautifully crafted in this movie. You know he's going to die, so you spend the first half of the movie trying to figure out how. By the time you get to his narrated line about "the day I died," you've forgotten. Oh my God! It's going to happen soon! And then even up to the moment it happens, you're still wondering when, when! How? And then - holy crap! And of course, you can't figure out who it was until that helpful montage uncovers the killer. So many people have motives... it could've been any one of them!

And still, this movie is not a thriller or a mystery. It's just a story about the last year in a man's ordinary life. It's just about him. And it's so enjoyable to watch, even when you do know what's going to happen.

Movie #6 - 21

21
Columbia Pictures
2008 - PG-13 - 2 hr 3 min
Director: Robert Lukatic
Starring: Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Laurence Fishbourne, Kevin Spacey

This DVD was another unopened one, so the last time we saw it was when we rented it from Netflix. It's not one of my favorites, completely independent of the fact that it has Kate Bosworth in it (eww), but I don't hate it either.

Basically, it details the journey of a smarty pants math genius living in Boston (who is neither good nor Will Hunting.) He gets in with a band of card-counting students led by professor Kevin Spacey (who successfully negates the Bosworth drawback) who travel to Vegas and win lots of money at Blackjack. I know counting cards isn't illegal, but the fact they you can get the crap beaten out of you for it is a testament to the rigging of the modern casino. Winning too much? Cheater! What happens if you're just really smart and accidentally count cards? That doesn't happen? Oh.

Anyway, things start going great for him. Money, women (er... Kate Bosworth), and limo rides abound. He's graduating MIT, heading to Harvard Med, and now has the money to pay for his education. Granted, his nerdy best friends now hate him and kick him off the science project team, but whatevs.

Then he sleeps with Kate Bosworth and everything starts to fall apart. I repeat, he sleeps with Kate Bosworth and it all falls apart. Coincidence? He gets his face beaten up by casino security guy Laurence Fishbourne, has all his money stolen from him by Kevin Spacey, and finds out he can't graduate. Time to get revenge...

All in all, it's not a horrible movie. Predictable and traditional in its plotline? Absolutely. Stunning cast of quality actors? Not exactly. So, only watch this one for enjoyment (and to watch the pole dancers in the nightclub, if that's your thing.) Otherwise, it's not really action or adventure, it just is what it is. Entertainment purposes only.