American Beauty
At a certain point in one's life, one senses their own mortality and wonders if
they have lived what can be considered a full life. Most Americans would
classify this as a mid-life crisis. You know all the stereotypes, balding
man, convertible sports car, personalized plate saying something clever about
his studliness.
American Beauty takes these stereotypes and makes them human, something every
person watching (male and female) can relate to, by putting them into the
American everyman, Lester Burnham. Kevin Spacey took on the responsibility
of portraying this everyman and walked away with an Oscar to prove his success.
Beauty follows the story of a suburban family living a suburban life.
Lester is unsatisfied; wife Carolyn (Annette Bening - The American President) is
an overachieving real estate agent, constantly trying to climb the ladder and
impress others. Their not-so-uncommon family is rounded out by
misunderstood daughter Jane (Thora Birch), who herself is the object of
affection for another wacky, misunderstood kid, camera-toting neighbor Ricky
Fitts (Wes Bentley). As the tagline for the movie reads... "look
closer". Think that wacky and weird things don't happen in the
tree-lined streets of suburbia? Think again. This movie may not be
as blatant as Edward Scissorhands was (remember those pastel houses?) but the
message is the same.
For all intense and purpose, this is Sam Mendes' directorial debut.
He's worked on other films before in miscellaneous "crew" roles, but
this movie is his first baby from start to finish. How upsetting for him
that his future endeavors will be held up to American Beauty and compared to it.
This is a very tough act to follow indeed.
The cast is rounded out with excellent turns by Peter Gallagher (a scene stealer
in practically every movie he's in), newcomer Mena Suvari (who plays the
self-absorbed cheerleader friend to a T) and Chris Cooper (extremely believable
as Colonel Frank Fitts, the homophobic ex-Marine father of Ricky) among others.
I rarely discuss things like cinematography and camera angles in my reviews, but
I just have to comment that this movie will transition to video very well.
It is filmed like a television show, which adds to its appeal on the big screen
(it feels more familiar) but doesn't lose its impact on the smaller screen.
Rating - * * * * 1/2