1: American Beauty: This is my favorite movie, and from the fantastic performances to the cinematography to the screenplay to the score, I love every aspect of it

2: Road to Perdition: Gangster movie, awesome look, 'nuff said

3: Revolutionary Road: great performances, superb direction

haven't seen Jarhead or Away We Go…

1. Road to Perdition (A)
2. Away We Go (A)
3. Revolutionary Road (A)
4. Jarhead (A-)
5. American Beauty (B+)

I thought American Beauty got a ton of credit for being innovative, but there wasn't much story there. Jarhead is visually and tonally fantastic, but a little disjointed. RevRoad is a great movie, but the one Mendes work I'll probably never watch again. Too jarring.

Away We Go is very well done. Lighthearted, but also with solid depth. I dug it.

Road to Perdition is one of my favorites. That Newman/Hanks scene in the pouring rain is all time. As are the conflicts and multilayered villains.

I absolutely love articulate personal testimonials to films, especially when they have the integrity to admit the flaws of those films. I'd say that you proved to me that Sam Mendes is a versatile, creative director who isn't afraid to take a different path. We need more people in the film industry like him.

On a personal note, some of "Road to Perdition" was shot just about a mile from my home so that Tom Hanks and Sam Mendes were breathing my same air for something like a week. 1/2 of my friends spent the time stalking them, but they were filming in the woods so were pretty inaccessible. I stayed away and just breathed deep. Small world, huh?

1. American Beauty
2. Jarhead
3. Away We Go
4. Revolutionary Road

i still need to see Road to Perdition

american beauty iz def #1. great film from direction to casting to cinematography.
except 4 jarhead i haven't seen any of the other 3 2 judge them, but i'm sure 2 chk them out.

i do have to say that your rankings are fairly bold, your top two are probably most peoples bottom two. It's really strange to rank his films, because other than Revolutionary Road and American Beauty they're all really differ vastly from each other.

I actually found Away We Go to be an insult disguised as an endearing comedy…but I could be off the mark. Road to Perdition is a beautiful film, one of my all time favorites and sports some of the greatest cinematography ever. American Beauty is a very good film but I just couldn't connect to it emotionally. Revolutionary Road boasts a great performance from Winslet, some nice camerawork by Deakins but the rest fell flat. Yet to see Jarhead.

1. Road to Perdition
2. American Beauty
3. Revolutionary Road
4. Away We Go

@Chris C: I'm curious what you believe the insult in Away We Go was, you have me intrigued.

@Brad Brevet: I think that, like in American Beauty and Revolutionary Road, Mendes is attacking the state of American marriage. When you look at all of the couples that Krasinki and Rudolph visit, the marriage is always screwed up in one way or another. The brother, Allison Janney's family, the seemingly perfect Montreal family, Maggie Gyllenhaal's family — all married couples, all screwed up in one way or another. And the two leads always leave the married couple with a sour taste, or, a segment never ends with a positive view on marriage. In the end, the unmarried, sort of renegade couple, our two leads, always come out on top — and they always will, as shown by the ending. By remaining unmarried, they can seemingly conquer anything.

It's not insulting in the typical sense of the word, but I keep reading about how the film is affirming and endearing. I actually found it quite dark, and another way for Mendes to flip off the typical American lifestyle. In a way, I felt cheated by the film, because I would rather have a director tell me his point straight up. And I don't mean spell it out — I just think that (what I feel) is the point should not be buried under a pretty funny, sweet comedy (seemingly) about accepting the perils of parenthood.

Now, I could be reading way too far into the film. But for my money, the film subtly, slyly manipulates its audience…

For the record, I really enjoyed the performances and thought the script had some very funny moments.

@Chris C: I don't think that is reading too far into it at all. I mentioned in my post how I saw similarities between American Beauty and RevRoad, but I never thought to look at the couples visited on the road in Away We Go and think you bring up a great point. It doesn't really change my opinion of the film, but I think it is a great observation.

I wonder if any interviews out there have brought it up with Mendes.

I still need to see "Away We Go."

But right now it's:

1) American Beauty
2) Revolutionary Road
3) Road to Perdition
4) Jarhead

@Chris C: I haven't seen this film yet, but I don't think the anti-marriage theme is in any way hidden. I can discern it from the previews. There's also the contrast between laissez faire parenting and controlling parenting.

I wonder if Sam isn't following F. Scott Fitzgerald's view. I'm trying to remember exactly what he wrote but it was something to the effect that all happy people are alike but no two unhappy people are unhappy for the same reason.

@Patricia: No, the anti-marriage from one party is not hidden whatsoever.

I really want to see Away We Go, but it's only playing in one theater in Arizona, where I live, and I don't live anywhere near it.

Sam Mendes is basically a dead boring director. He has the ability to put everyone to sleep. Maybe he should stick to the theatre.