Well, I'll throw my hat in the ring with Fred. I thought AB was pretty much of a yawner.

If you aren't living as part of the so-called "American mainstream" it is easy to view the film as, well, stupid. Just like the American mainstream is.

There are very few American filmmakers creating films with depth and substance. Rather they make glitzy looking pics and flicks that appeal to the mainstreams addictions to glamour, violence, and romance--and if all three elements are combined, as they were in American Beauty, the mainstream critics think you are brill.

Yawn.