American Beauty 美国丽人 英语影评 And there were a lot of great ones this year. I will also say something even (possibly) bolder--that Kevin Spacey gives the performance of his career. And all us movie geeks know that is saying a LOT, given this man's past roles, and his talent. I used to think he was overrated as an actor. Then I figured OK, I see what all the fuss is about. Now, he's up there with my favorite actors of all time, with James Woods, Steve Buscemi, Robert Deniro...probably in the top 5. I was lucky enough to see a free screening this afternoon and boy, am I glad I had the privilege. In fact, this review might not even be that coherent- it's one of those movies that blows you away so much that you have trouble even putting your feelings into words. The plotline sounds trite when you first describe it (it did to me when I first heard about it), Spacey plays a man who describes himself as a loser, with Annette Bening as his horrible, shrewish, self-absorbed, pathetic b*tch of a wife. His daughter is not all that likeable either, despite the fact that you can understand why she turned out this way, with her as a mother. Just when you think you've met the most dysfunctional family in the world outside of "Happiness", you find out about the family who just moved in next door. At first, the strange son seems like the most messed-up member of their brood, but after you get to meet his ex-military, abusive, homophobic, terrifying father and his withdrawn, sad, headcase mother, you realize he is the most normal member of the household by far. Then, the filmwriters toss in Kevin Spacey's lustful obsession with his daughter's sexkitten cheerleader friend,