2. "Sometimes, There's So Much Beauty In The World..." - American Beauty
Sam Mendes' American Beauty is awesome.... right? Well, yes, but there is that big with the bag. In the context of the entire narrative it makes sense, and is probably a forgiveable enough lapse into schmaltz in an otherwise genuinely affecting film - but when you think about what the scene entails, it's kinda hilarious. A teenager (Wes Benley) brings a girl into his bedroom to show her "the most beautiful thing he's ever filmed", and proceeds to put on a video of a plastic bag blowing around in the wind with some leaves. He says the bag was "dancing with him, like little kid begging him to play with it." Then just as you think it can't get any more pretentious, Ricky Fitts brings it home with, "Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world, I feel like I can't take it, and my heart is just going to cave in." To be fair, the scene is played as well as it can be by Bentley, and at the end of the movie when Kevin Spacey's character emphasises the sentiment during his closing monologue it does tie things together nicely. But at the end of the day, it's just a plastic bag and some leaves, kid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qssvnjj5Moo
Freelance writer/editor/reviewer. Resides in Ireland, where it rains 11 out 12 months of the year, and the grumpy bastard wouldn't have it any other way. He has a passion for all things film and comic related, and also dabbles in amateur film making, screenwriting and photography.