Directed by: Sam Mendes
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, Mena Suvari, Chris Cooper, Peter Gallagher, Alison Janney
Lester Burnham has more than most people have, yet feels he should be more and do more with his life. He is a middle-aged man with a teenage daughter who is embarrassed by him and a wife with whom he is no longer intimate. He has a job he despises and confesses he spends a great deal of time at work jerking off in the bathroom. Does he even know when or where it all went wrong? He remembers a time not so long ago when he was happy. It is not ancient history, but he can no longer reach out and touch it. American Beauty is a comedy and a tragic story about Lester's fleeting quest for happiness and meaning. It is a biting and moving satire all at once. We soon find that Lester is not the only one searching for elusive happiness. Isn't that the case with us all?
Lester (Spacey) narrates the film as the camera descends on his suburban neighborhood. "I'll be dead in one year," he warns the audience, "but in many ways, I'm dead already." His wife Carolyn (Bening) is a realtor who slaps herself in the face to avoid crying when she can't sell a house. She listens to motivational tapes and repeats their mantras. To Lester, she has turned into a "bloodless vampire." Lester's daughter Jane (Birch) doesn't smile much and wants to save money to get a boob job. She laments her lack of communication with her father and sniffs out her mother's phoniness like a bloodhound. She is the also the object of the desires of her teenage neighbor Ricky Fitts (Bentley), who videotapes her from afar. It is nowhere near as creepy as it sounds.
Ricky is Lester's new neighbor with a home life that isn't much better. His ex-Marine father (Cooper) insists on being called Colonel and drug tests his son. His wife sits quietly and forlornly at the kitchen table, apologizing that her spotless home isn't clean enough. We learn later why she is unhappy and why the Colonel is against homosexuals in his neighborhood. Ricky begins dating Jane and befriends Lester after becoming his weed dealer. Carolyn is appalled by the whole scene.
("I suppose using psychotropic substances sets a wonderful example for your teenage daughter.")
Lester's life makes a 180 degree turn when he attends his daughter's cheerleading competition and lays eyes on her friend Angela (Suvari) for the first time. She is a vision to him. Yes, she is a barely legal teenager, but Lester can not help his infatuation. He fantasizes about her bathing in a tub and pool of roses. She becomes his impetus to improve himself. He starts working out, quits his job (but not before blackmailing his boss into a good severance package), and suddenly finds purpose when there was none previously. He even gets a job at a fast-food joint, which makes him infinitely happier than his previous job.
We know this will not end happily for Lester. He already foreshadowed that in his opening narration. His reverie is temporary, but it is the most fun he has had in years. He longs for the day he can bed Angela. To Lester, she is sex incarnate; a perfect embodiment of every man's sexual desires. Is it the truth? We soon find out in a touching scene that stays just this side of good taste. The entire movie is a deft exercise in walking the perilous tightrope between the funny and the just plain sad.
American Beauty won five Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director for Mendes, Best Actor for Spacey, and Alan Ball's observant screenplay. It is not a film you can nail down as one particular "type", which makes it all the more satisfying. We think we know where it will lead, only to surprise us and challenge us along the way. Spacey's Oscar was well-deserved. The film doesn't work if we can not identify with Lester. Spacey possesses the intelligence to pull off such a tricky character and allows us to empathize with his plight, which is likely the plight of every other person on Earth. Bening was nominated for her role of the frustrated Carolyn. She is frustrated by her lack of professional success and her failing marriage. She keeps up a happy front...almost too happy. "To be successful, one must project the image of success," she says as a refrain. But, I think she would rather be selling a few more homes.
American Beauty is perpetually engaging and thoughtful as it works its way to its fitting conclusion. We feel bad for Lester as he loses his life just as things begin making sense to him again. He weathered the storm and likely would be able to weather many more. But fate had a different idea. It is not like he didn't warn us.
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