Kevin Spacey plays Lester Burnham, ordinary family man trapped in his
ordinary life. His wife is a joyless opportunist, his teenage daughter
treats him with disdain, his job is miserable drudgework. But Lester
has a secret weapon; he is played by Kevin Spacey. When he sees his
teen daughter's Lolitaish friend for the first time (Mena Suvari, who also
did American Pie, which I guess makes her 1999's All-American actress)
Lester wakens from the miserable dream of his life and proceeds on what
is either a
personal revolution, a midlife crisis, or the world's merriest nervous
breakdown. Because the script is clever and funny and because Kevin
Spacey is one of our best actors, we're caught up in Lester's giddiness.
He blackmails a year's severance out of his job, he applies at a fast food
restaurant, he buys the car that he always wanted when he was 20.
"I rule," he proclaims, driving a remote control car around the house and
putting his bare feet on the pristine coffeetable.
As good as this is, it's only the ground level to American Beauty. Annette Bening plays his wife Carolyn who starts an affair with the local real estate king, Thora Birch is his troubled daughter, Jane, who draws the interest of new next door neighbor Ricky Fitts (Wes Bentley) who has a precarious relationship with his strict father (Chris Cooper). What's pretty staggering is that all of this is developed with enough attention, sympathy and humor that any of these storylines would be a decent movie on their own; consequently, American Beauty feels stronger, fresher, more insightful and more meaningful than any six or seven of the best movies of the 90's put together.
The
dialogue is witty, the shots are exquisitely controlled, and there is an
air of sympathy for the characters that manages to not slip into sentimentality.
When Ricky, a chronic videotaper, shows Jane his videotape of "the most
beautiful thing in the world," the direction is careful to let us decide
whether Ricky is an artist, a nut, a troubled kid or a holy fool; as the
scene goes on, our perceptions of Ricky change at every moment. What
also helps is that every performance is outstanding. I can't remember
the last movie I could say that about. My favorites were Spacey and
a stunning performance from Wes Bentley, but everyone is excellent.
The movie's not perfect, but it sure felt awfully close when I walked
out of the theater. Bening's character isn't as finely detailed 
as
everyone else, and so the last few scenes of her just aren't perfect.
It's arguable whether Spacey, who is a master of playing intelligent people
with complex facades, pulls off the final character transition of openness
that Lester attains but it's pretty darn close. The only fake note
in the whole thing is the Dreamworks logo. You know that kid in the
moon fishing to the treacly John Williams music? I hate that goddamned
thing. There's one or two other things I might complain about, but
I won't. Instead, allow me to compliment Alan Ball, the screenwriter,
Director of Photography Conrad Hall, the whole cast and particularly director
Sam Mendes who must get the lion's share of the credit for having everyone
achieve their best. Also, I appreciate the fact that Mendes remembers
why people go to art movies and shows the excellent breasts of the young
women, as well as Wes Bentley's pert butt and some interesting Kevin Spacey
nudity. What else can I say? Go to this movie, you'll be glad that
you did.
All written material on these pages is © 1999 by Jeff Lester. With the exception of non-profit distribution, all other rights are reserved.