American Beauty (1999)
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After its release American Beauty seemed to be regarded by many critics as an 'important' piece of cinema. Many praised it’s subversive take on suburban American life, while others complained it was perhaps not as clever as it liked to think it was. Whichever view is subscribed to, this is a well-constructed and well-acted piece of drama that certainly tries to be a lot more than a typical Hollywood film.
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is a typical American office worker with a dull home life and little worth living for. To compound the problems he is developing a serious case of mid-life crisis and an has an increasingly frosty relationship with his wife Carolyn (Annette Bening), especially after he becomes infatuated with his daughter’s teenage friend Angela (Mena Suvari). As if that wasn’t enough problems, his daughter Jane (Thora Birch) starts going out with eccentric next-door neighbour and small-time drug dealer Ricky (Wes Bentley) who is trying to escape the influence of his authoritarian father (Chris Cooper).
As the film wears on Lester’s life slowly disintegrates but he finds solace in quitting his job and trying to recapture the fun he had as a youth - listening to his old records and working out regularly. Lester’s changing personality is brilliantly portrayed by Kevin Spacey in a fine performance by one of the best contemporary actors. The other actors also give equally good performances in sometimes challenging roles.
The script is also up to scratch – the themes aren't dissimilar to the themes explored in a typical soap opera story but it manages to be far better than that. There is also no shortage of humour with Spacey’s deadpan delivery being put to good use. Cinematography is another area in which this film excels and it all looks very nice, the direction is also good although nothing spectacular.
Unfortunately despite the technical brilliance and the good script the movie isn’t really as clever as it thinks it is and although it does offer some insights into the pointlessness of American suburban life, none of the insights are likely to surprise anyone. The fact that many middle-aged people are unhappy in their dull job and prosaic family life and would like to be young again isn’t exactly an earth-shattering revelation. The character of Ricky is another problem as his character’s action don’t really make sense. Quite possibly he’s meant to be symbolic of some malaise in American society but his muttering on why filming plastic bags is beautiful ends up sounding quite pretentious and irritating. While the other characters are generally likeable enough their eccentric behaviour can also irritate and the unexpected ending seems a disappointing end to the film in many ways – it does negate the purpose of much of the film.
In summary, a very well made film that is unfortunately not as clever as it would like to think it is. There are some striking visual moments, but the story itself is slightly disappointing.
Rating : 7 ½ / 10
All content ©2003 William Marnoch.
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