A few years ago, even, American Beauty was still considered to be a worthy picture and a deserving Best Picture winner - but like Forrest Gump, critics and movie-goers have since revisited this movie to find that it might not hold up quite as well as they first thought. In the case of Sam Mendes' debut picture, which recounts the life of one Lester Burnham, a depressed office drone who decides to turn his life around, they might have been right to "look closer." What must be remembered, though, is that - at time of its release - American Beauty really was shocking. That's to say, a movie about a middle-aged man (Kevin Spacey in one of his best performances) fantasising over his teenager daughter's best friend was edgy and bold, and even Wes Bentley's now cringe-inducing monologues about the hidden beauty of plastic bags in the wind seemed revelatory. The bag-related stuff has not aged well, that's true, but many have turned on American Beauty simply because it became unexpectedly trendy. Actually re-approaching the film reveals it's still the same sharp and witty suburban satire; bags in the wind aside, it really holds up.
