Can it be rivalled?

I would have to agree with you that American Beauty is an exceptional film. I enjoyed it immensely. The characters were very complex and the cinematography was very well orchestrated. What is interesting is listening to the Director's commentary on DVD; apparently the subliminal message was to portray Kevin Spacey's character as being trapped in small "boxes" in all aspects of his life; car, office cubicle, garage etc What I liked about this movie is that the main character decided to actually do something to change his life being totally ignorant of the economics associated with it. For once, he did something that made HIM happy, not everybody else. Sure, he took it to the extremes but we could all learn something from this. Another movie which doesn't have the depth but follows a similar theme in terms of self-discovery is "Duets". If you can survive through the karaoke focus it's not so bad! Also "Falling Down" with Michael Douglas is another example but this one has the character responding in a negative way and actually losing it! For some reason I relate to these movies about people fighting normality to pursue individual growth and self exploration. We do not always have to accept everything exactly how it is. We all have the ability to change our lives; it's just that most of us don't for fear of the unknown and because we are so use to the way things are that we just accept it. And it's not always about money, fame or career; it's about being happy and true to who you really are.

This movie made me totally fall in love with Thomas Newman - the composer of the themes in the film. The music fits beautifully with the genre of the film, its so calming and relaxing. This is definitely one of my favourite movies of all time.

In the time that this film came out, I think that is was truly groundbreaking. When had the issues that were explored in this film been really been opened up and put under a microscope? It is one of those films where no matter what your situation in life, you can totally relate in some manner to one of the characters even if you never before thought of the aspects of yourself that brought that to light. It also says "This is who you think you are, but maybe you are wrong". And to accept the fact that you never were what you imagined, well, isn't that just the pits.