Introduction:
American Beauty is a fine film which demonstrates the mid life crisis a person goes through when his/her marriage is failing and an affair is entered into. It contains some typical embodiments of the American dream as well as some materialistic aspects which continue to dominate the plot like a leitmotif during the film. Obviously there are comparisons and contrasts as both parents played well by Kevin Spacey and Thora Birch, the latter in the role of the materialistic wife Jane. Ultimately Lester Burnham who is the main character in the film has an affair with a cheerleader friend of his neighbor and ...
