12 "Important" Movies That Are Actually Terrible

7. American Beauty (1999)

Oh, how the world went bananas for debutante director Sam Mendes' peek behind the curtains of middle class suburbia, exposing a hotbed of deceit, sexual frustration and shattered dreams, but hinting at an underlying spiritual unity that meant everything was okay, no matter how bad things might seem.

Beautifully shot with a Kubrickian eye for symmetry, there's no denying American Beauty paints a pretty picture. But while the poster blurb urged us to 'look closer,' is there really much more to it when we scratch the surface?

The main thread of Lester Burnham, a cog in the corporate machine who, in a moment of revelation/mental breakdown, breaks free to reclaim his manhood (blackmailing his boss in the process) is simply a more upbeat, middle class take on the same journey Edward Norton took in Fight Club earlier that same year.

As for the rest; well, it's all a bit soap opera. Teen seductress is really a virgin, military homophobe is secretly gay; are these really particularly surprising character developments? Admittedly, it might be a bit much to call American Beauty 'terrible,' but it's nothing like the groundbreaking masterpiece it was widely declared to be.