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Compare and contrast to films from the same genre.

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Compare and contrast to films from the same genre.
Compare and contrast to films from the same genre.
Revolutionary Road [Drama]
American Beauty [Drama]
American Beauty is a superb, beautiful piece of work by first time director Sam Mendes; easily a very accomplished film. This story centers around a man named Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) a man who has lost passion in his life. His wife Caroline (Annette Bening) is a workaholic real estate agent. Both are frustrated with their marriage which is basically just for show. Sexually frustrated Lest lusts for his daughter's (Thora Birch) best friend Angela (Mena Suvari). This lust begins Lester's dedication to obtain happiness for his life, so he quits his job and begins to flip burgers just like when he was a teenager. Caroline is very frustrated with the fact that she has to be the breadwinner of the family and has an affair. Meanwhile the boy next door, Ricky is videotaping the Burnham’s daughter Jane. The two strike a chord with each other and begin a romantic relationship. Ricky's father, Frank is a “homophobe” who suspects Ricky is a homosexual because he is spending some time with Lester; of course this is not true. All Ricky is doing is scoring Lester some drugs. As the story progresses Lester gets used to Angela and Angela starts to warm up to Lester. There are some very underlying themes that some viewers probably didn’t understand, so I shall proceed to clarify some of these themes. Although family is a part of the movie, it is not the central theme. The portrayal of family life is incidental, and is only a fragment of the bigger picture. Ultimately the film is about the desire to be free and the consequences of this desire in American culture, a culture that supposedly is based on freedom. Lester wants to be free from his career and his dominant wife. Carolyn wants to be free from her own meticulous nature and self-doubt. Jane wants to be free from her parents. Ricky wants to be free from his Dad's expectations. Frank wants to be free to express his
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