The movie is more complex than a TV show, but as a whole, it's about nothing. The trailer suggests that the entire movie is about Kevin Spacey's mid-life crisis. That is only a small part of the film. The movie doesn't just focus on Spacey, but the entire cast. Each of the main cast members has their own little TV series. Kevin Spacey is Seinfeld in this movie. Everything revolves around him. He doesn't have any special features; he's just a regular guy in life who is breaking down.

The movie isn't just a way to show Kevin Spacey fantasizing about his daughter's cheerleading buddy (Mena Suvari). It looks at his metamorphosis from "I hate my life" to "my life is great". Spacey needed something to jump-start his boring life. Thora Birch was that someone. He doesn't just want her, but he begins to smoke pot, lift weights while being naked, and goes back to what he loved to do in his younger years, flip burgers.

AMERICAN BEAUTY is funny at times, but can be downright depressing. It has several mood changes and can't decide on one. That's good, it makes the audience adjust to its mood. The best parts of the movie are when Spacey, his wife (Annette Bening) and their daughter (Thora Birch) are at the dinner table. The picture looks like the average American family. Whereas the daughter thinks her parents are freaks and the parents do nothing but babble about their job and life.