Those of you who saw the movie American Beauty, what did you think of Annette Bening's character?

I think that is one of the most overrated films of the last 20 years. It sucks.
Carolyn was a real estate agent, and was used to lying to people. She let that bleed over into her life.
As far as Bening goes, I don’t see a lot of difference between how she played that role, and the ones she did in the Grifters, or The Kids Are Alright. I did like her in Bugsy and Mars Attacks.

I didn’t have much sympathy for her.I knew someone just like that and she was a pain in the neck to be around.

I feel that she was way too hard on herself. She should’ve just let go! Her character made me very tense myself. I believe she needed some intense imaginery therapy!

It has been a long time since I saw the movie, but I thought it was brilliant. I have a friend who HATES that movie, because she feels like it is in her face that surburbia is perceived as boring and bottom of the barrel, and everyone needs life to be like a movie star. Benning was just trying to keep it together in my opinion. So often women wind up seeming old, nagging, and uptight in a marriage – depressing as I write this. Their husbands obviously don’t look at them the same way anymore, and the wife knows it. I wish I could remember more details of the movie to expand on my answer.

Thumbs up on the movie for me, although I found it hard to watch the second time. I liked the wife—I know women like that, wrapped so tight they can hardly breathe. That scene when she comes apart in the house she can’t sell—really wonderful acting, and I knew exactly how she felt.

Austinlad
I always picture that scene where she is in her slip furiously cleaning the windows of one of the properties she’s trying to sell! I think mostly she’s less sympathetic of a character because she seems too materialistic, plus she’s being unfaithful.

I really felt sorry for her. She had this perfectionist drive that she couldn’t keep up with. She really did make a royal mess for herself in that movie, but you can see this desperation behind it, this insatiable desire for everything to fall into place – if she could only force it. I loved it.

Yeah, she needed a chill pill lol. Their marriage just needed to end, or they should have explored swinging.

She obviously suffered from severe OCD , in the end she just snapped! Many of us in the world with psychological issues are inches away from snapping.