美国丽人英文影评.docVIP

美国丽人 American Beauty review by Roger Ebert 关键字：英语电影影评 American Beauty is a comedy because we laugh at the absurdity of the heros problems. And a tragedy because we can identify with his failure--not the specific details, but the general outline. The movie is about a man who fears growing older, losing the hope of true love and not being respected by those who know him best. If you never experience those feelings, take out a classified ad. People want to take lessons from you. Lester Burnham, the hero of American Beauty, is played by Kevin Spacey as a man who is unloved by his daughter, ignored by his wife and unnecessary at work. Ill be dead in a year, he tells us in almost the first words of the movie. In a way, Im dead already. The movie is the story of his rebellion. We meet his wife, Carolyn (Annette Bening), so perfect her garden shears are coordinated with her footwear. We meet his daughter Jane (Thora Birch), who is saving up for breast implants even though augmentation is clearly unnecessary; perhaps her motivation is not to become more desirable to men, but to make them miserable about what they cant have. Both my wife and daughter think Im this chronic loser, Lester complains. He is right. But they are not without their reasons. At an agonizing family dinner, Carolyn plays Mantovanian music that mocks every mouthful; the music is lush and reassuring, and the family is angry and silent. When Lester criticizes his daughters attitude, she points out correctly that he has hardly spoken to her in months. Everything changes for Lester the night he is dragged along by his wife to see their daughter perform as a cheerleader. There on the floor, engrossed in a sub-Fosse pompon routine, he sees his angel: Angela (Mena Suvari), his daughters high-school classmate. Is it wrong for a man in his 40s to lust after a teenage girl? Any honest man understands what a complicated question this is. Wrong morally, certainly, and legally. But as every woman knows, men are bo