American Beauty/Almost Famous: Follow-Up

5/5
5/5

As you know, last year I mentioned these films as being among my favourite films that I have ever watched. But I never really mentioned why. Well now I shall, and give my proper review for the movies Almost Famous and American Beauty.
Okay lets start with American Beauty. This movie is very negative, but yet delivers a postive message that all that you want is still there, you just need to find it yourself. Be it by music, weed, working out, working at a fast food joint, or jerking off to the thought of his daughters friend, Kevin Spacey's character is likeable, and you can relate to him on more then one level(just not the last one hopefully). His dughter hates her parents and finds what she wants in her neighbour, Ricky. He shows her all the beauty in the world, and is very gentle and kind towards everyone, whether he likes them or not. His wife finds the beauty through banging the shit out of a realtor and a handgun(in that order). She's more tight then her husband and therefore less likely to cut loose and make a scene, unlike her husband. The whole movie is sad, funny, erotic, artsy, creative, joyful and of course(you know it) beautiful. The movie almost did a sweep at the Oscars that year(1999), but lost the Best Actress to Hilary Swank. But that doesn't matter, because as long as you can find what you are looking for in life, you can be happy again. American Beauty shows that.

Almost Famous came out about a year later, and while it wasn't as successful at the box office, it recieved equally impressive reviews, up to pare with American Beauty. Almost Famous capture the spirit of music, from a director(Cameron Crowe) who actually had first hand experience with the subject. This movie is an auto-biography of what it was like for this man to be going around with bands, learning how they function, why they function and what continues to make them function. Kate Hudson in her best performance to date, is outstanding as a truly free-spirited groupie, caught in the heat of music, and refusing to let it die with her. Frances Mcdormand is also one of my favourite characters, as a mother who is the opposite of her son, and who wants nothing of the music world in her families life. This film has a ton of camoes(including a early Zooey Deschannel), and is always good to watch, although I recommend that, on first view, skip the Directors Cut, andwatch the Theatrical version. This is the first I "watched"(I say watched cause I played guitar for about half the movie)of the movie, and in my opinion the better version, of a great gem of a film.

Now, the reason I love these movies is they combine the themes of happieness and music together, which is something I started looking for(and continue to do this day) after watching these movies. They are two of the best movies ever made. If you have not seen these films yet, you really don't know what you're missing. These movies will find what you are missing.