American Beauty

             American Beauty is one of the few movies that I've seen in my life that I could watch over and over again without getting tired of it. There are so many aspects of it that make it a great movie. One thing that is very important when making any movie is the casting of the characters, and how well the pull off their parts. This aspect of American Beauty was exceptional.
             Kevin Spacey's character, Lester Berhnam, goes through this cycle of reinventing himself. In the beginning he's this pushover of an employee, husband, and father. By the end he's a pot smoking, stand up for your self, don't give a crap guy. The character development itself is one of the things that makes the movie stand out to me. However, the one thing that catches my attention throughout the whole movie that may not get as much attention as it deserves is the music, or lack there of at some moments.
             Music can make or break a scene in a movie. If you have a romantic love scene, and you hear World War II battle music in the background, it sort of loses the effect, don't you think? The music and song choices in American Beauty really enhance the scenes. The film is basically about a very dysfunctional family, and how they all come to find themselves in the end. Well some of my favorite scenes in the movie is the dinner scenes. Annette Benning's character, Carolyn, insists on having a cheap knock-off of elevator music playing in the background during meals. This adds to the tension in the family, and it kind of sets an ironic background of happiness or calmness. Another high point in background music choice comes when Lester is finding himself. He's out in the garage, listening to Pink Floyd and smoking pot. It just makes the scene even funnier.
             In other cases, just the opposite happens. There are some very intense scenes in which there is no background music at all. In the end of the film, Lester's character gets
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American Beauty. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 07:57, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/7476.html