American Beauty (1999), Director: Sam Mendes, rated R strong sexuality, nudity, language, violence

... look closer

Starring: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Mena Suvari, Wes Bentley, Allison Janney, Peter Gallagher, Chris Cooper

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"I feel like I've been in a coma for the past twenty years. And I'm just now waking up." – Lester Burnham

Why watch this? It's such a uniquely American tragedy, both beautiful and brutally painful.

Plot Summary: Lester Burnham is a man slogging through a suburban marriage, and a midlife crisis, who becomes infatuated with his daughter's best friend. This sexual obsession leads him to question and significantly change his life, including his career and his relationships. These changes are a bit too radical for his wife to handle.

Dad's Preview: This film takes a critical look at the American way of life, and how the insatiable quest for material happiness can screw people up. We have a man in the midst of a mid-life crisis. His tightly wound wife is losing her mind, and having an affair, too. Their teenage daughter desperately just wants to be seen. Their neighbor is a hard-ass ex-military man, who's hell-bent on toughing up his sensitive son. Mix this all together, and the result is a cinematic climax you won't soon forget. 

Jinks/Cohen Company; DreamWorks Pictures