"Look closer," the film's tag-line tells us. Look closer at the beautiful things we yearn for and spend our life chasing. The characters in "American Beauty" are yearning to fulfill a dream that they think will somehow get them out of their miserable life:
For Lester Burnham, it is an overwhelming passion for a young girl.
For his wife, Carolyn, it is becoming the most successful real estate agent in her town.
For their teenaged daughter Jane, it is changing her physical appearance.
For their neighbor, Colonel Frank Fitts, it is the semblance of a happy, normal domestic all-American life.
By the end of the film, most of the characters get a taste of their dreams and discover the underlying emptiness of their lives. Looking closer, they see the decay that has replaced genuine beauty and meaning. Their dreams are nothing but illusions.
For Lester Burnham, it is an overwhelming passion for a young girl.
For his wife, Carolyn, it is becoming the most successful real estate agent in her town.
For their teenaged daughter Jane, it is changing her physical appearance.
For their neighbor, Colonel Frank Fitts, it is the semblance of a happy, normal domestic all-American life.
By the end of the film, most of the characters get a taste of their dreams and discover the underlying emptiness of their lives. Looking closer, they see the decay that has replaced genuine beauty and meaning. Their dreams are nothing but illusions.