American Beauty

When this movie (American Beauty) was released, I was in 11th class shuffling my time between playing cricket & chit-chatting with  friend and occassionally attending classes. 

In those times, in my native place (bhadrak) , watching a hollywood movie is something of pride and increased your status in friend circle ,  as that meant you can understand people speaking english &
had the freedom from home to watch a english movie.

One lucky friend of mine who has watched the movie , during his visit to his uncle's place in Mumbai, told the storyline of movie (though now it seems he exaggerated a lot ) and vividly described Mena Suvari lying in rose petals.

Now after so many years , when i watched this movie , this is my take

WOW

And this is not only after watching mena suvari in rose petals .
This is about how beautifully the movie was made justifying the
punchline  'your life is nothing but intersection of other
  lives and events'

The movie starts with the protagonist of the movie , lester
burnham  (Kevin spacey, seven & usual suspects fame)
jerking off in the shower and voice over ' This will be the
high point of my day; it's all downhill from here'. In the
end scene , he lies dead on his drawing room table with his
eyes open and ricky , the boy who lives next door and lover
of lester's daughter , looks into his open eyes and says wow

And in between , what happenss is everything what happens in
life. Occassional surprises when ordinary perople leave their
orbit.A middle aged man bored with life trying to find
happiness , a wife who wants to be sccessful to hide from
her insecurities ,a teenage daughter frustated in her life
finding love next door,a teenage girl (mena suvari) at last
stubmling upon her loneliness,a retired colonel facing his
fear for first time & ending up killing the protagonist,
the boy next door who seemed to find beauty everywhere ,
the boy's mother who is lost in the maze called life

That's it

Some memorable quotes from movie :

1) Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari) : I don't think that there's anything worse than being ordinary

2)Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey)(LAST SCENE

... it's hard to stay mad when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much. My heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst ...

And then I remember ... to relax, and not try to hold on to it. And then it flows through me like rain. And I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life. You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure. Don't worry ... you will someday.

3) Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) : It's okay. I wouldn't remember me either. (After his wife introduced him to one of her competitors in real estate bsiness)

4)Lester Burnham : It's a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself.

5)Lester Burnham : Remember those posters that said, 'Today is the first day of the rest of your life'? Well, that's true of every day but one — the day you die.