"...look closer..."      

AMERICAN BEAUTY (R)

Reviewed September 25, 1999 - Check out the American Beauty Website.

Studio Synopsis: In a biting, penetrating and often humorous take on contemporary life in suburban America, Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) becomes intrigued by a young girl named Angela (Mena Suvari), and this fascination sparks him to make some major changes in his life. He relishes these changes, much to the exasperation of his wife Carolyn (Annette Bening).

Fuzzydog Review: It's not easy trying to describe what American Beauty is about as a film.  On one level, it simply feels like a dark, cynical and angry look into suburban American life today.  With a host of dysfunctional, lonely and/or frustrated characters, it's easy to get put off by the atmosphere which this film sets, and it's easy to transfer one's dislike for certain characters into a general dislike of the film itself.  Nope, American Beauty is definitely not a "feel good" film, choosing instead to be a subversively twisted caricature of suburbia today.  At the same time, however, there's a significant part of American Beauty that seems to run purely at a comedic level, and, for the most part, it works.  Credit here needs to go to Kevin Spacey for an amazing performance as the frustrated Lester Burnham, as well as to Annette Bening for some nice comedic turns as Burnham's status-seeking wife.  Combined with some interesting writing, and more than a few creative touches by director Sam Mendes, this is a film that stays with you after you leave the theater, and for that it's certainly worth a look.  Whether American Beauty is the film masterpiece that some have touted it to be is another issue altogether...you'll have to decide that one for yourself...

Responses from cyberspace--thanks for writing!

rreppy@doctor.com gives this movie  stars: "This is a movie about honest passion.Brutally honest, stripped-down-to-the-basics, turn-your-soul-inside-out passion. It is about the passions we are supposed to supress, and then regret in old age that we suppressed them. The main character, Lester, is suburban Everyman, who suddenly decides he doesn't want to live a life of regret anymore. His midlife ennui is brought to a crisis by his lust for Angela, a Lolita for the new millenium. In this movie, this lust is a million-candlewatt-power Kleig light of honesty that cuts through all the lies and compr-omises of Lester's life and banishes the soft, comforting shadows that previously allowed him to ignore them . It illuminates the starkness of his life and lays bare its emptiness. By its light, Lester suddenly sees his Reality for what it is. This is the most European of any American movie I've ever seen, and I mean that in the best way." (11/29/00)

anonymous entry gives this movie  stars: "Great. Opens your eyes so that you can begin to see!!!" (4/21/00)

Natas Lleh gives this movie  stars: "since heat,this is the best movie of the last years!!it shows that our world isn t that perfect like many want it to be.all you blind,ignorant people out there(especially all the average american dumbheads) watch this!! sure this film is not perfect because of some strange and useless scenes...but its special out of the bunch of that sweet, one dimensional,hollywood crap like titanic.and what does this idiot below mean with an "anticrist film" ? because it shows the truth in a sarcastic way?because of the "mariuhana"smoking?because it isn t that optimistic like the most happy- ending -bullsh** films? open your eyes!! there is no god!! if you would be able to think you could realize it... i can tolerate other peoples opinions but this is poor,blind and awesome stupid(ok this comment maybe too but giving this film one star..grrr)..."anticrist film"...oh man to all film freaks out there watch it...think about it ...and then give your comment!! ---from somehere in germany---" (4/15/00)

emil_skoda@yahoo.com gives this movie  stars: "Excellent acting, superb directing. Weak story. This movie failed to comment significantly on the human condition. It used cheap caricatures of middle-class life in an attempt to be a "serious film" but merely showed the writers' lack of insight. Despite some great humor from Kevin Spacey's character, the film was slow, dull, and seemingly without point. I do not recommend this movie." (3/30/00)

topjimmy@a1wheels.com gives this movie  star: "I vote this NO stars. This movie is terrible for the world to see. It is a very anti-Christ type film in my opinion. This world is bad because of films like these." (3/29/00)

anonymous entry gives this movie  star: "This movie is so bad. I am a film major and a great judge of films and let me tell you how demented and sick this story is and how silly and unrealistic it was. I can't believe this many people like it. I guess it could only be loved in a country that would elect a cheating bastard for the president." (3/27/00)

darth_davo@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "Sensationally done with such an influential story about American suburban life and the fact that we all can relate to so many aspects of the 'life' story. Endlessly funny and really in-depth towards the end, American Beauty was well deserving of the Golden Globe and I'm sure it won't be shunned by the Oscars. A real treat to see a movie this good." (1/29/00)

adoosje@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "It's superb! Needless to say more...." (1/20/00)

j8887@yahoo.com gives this movie  stars. (1/1/00)

gillianlover@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "The two reviews below seem to sum up the brilliance of this film, so all I will add is that this is quite simply the best film of the year. " (12/21/99)

condonj@ohsu.edu gives this movie  stars: "This was an emotionally moving story for me, not just as a middle aged guy with a teenage daughter. There were some fine profound sentiments worked into it in a way that was not condescending or preachy. And I liked all of the pot smoking. Let's face it: thats what this movie was about. I don't smoke it now but I used to, alot, and let me tell you, this thing was written by someone who knows about getting high. Alot of Lester's new identity and the persona of the neighbor kid lined up with people who like to get high. I'm not gonna try to work a synopsis into this: i hate reading a dozen different abbreviated versions of the plot. let's talk about it like two people who've both seen the movie, ok? Did you notice that irony in the daughter falling for the guy who was so much like the father she hates? what was the idea there, that teen daughters are destined to hate their dads no matter what theyt do? That's something that stood out about this film too, that it was written to the parents level some. It didn't automatically make the folks out to be dottering idiots and the kids cool and worldly-wise. There was a different take on lots of issues here, like the whole treatment of gays in the story. Did Colonel Fitts have a repressed homo-side, or was that the "kiss of death" he gave Lester toward the end? It was left up to us to decide this, and even who killed Lester was not cut and dried: there was alot of misleading foreshadowing. And well-timed pauses in the action to let you think about some of the questions that were piling up. So all together it was a very well crafted movie. Did you notice that the writer was one of the producers? That tells you something about this (stoner) person's point of view too. Am I rambling? Nevermind." (11/18/99)

stranger_1981@hotmail.com gives this movie  stars: "American Beauty is a movie that will change your view on any picture perfeect, ordinary life. The movie impacted me, in a way that no other film has this year. It is a deeply involving story about lives trying to break free from their loneliness, and their simple existences. People who are unhappy, and make desperate attempts to break free from the prisons that society has created for them. Lester is the basically the main character of the movie. His whole life is suddenly changed one night, when he is dragged to a basketball game, to watch his daughter on the cheerleading team. He encounters the most beautiful thing he has ever seen, Angela. He is totally taken by her and lusts after her throughout the movie. This leads to him losing his job, buying his dream car and body building. He has decided to take his life in his hands, and see where he can go, and what he can accomplish. This movie reminded me of last year's, Happiness, which was also about lonely people, looking for a way out of their endless lives. But Happiness was more up front, and disturbing. This movie takes us step by step, through a lot more tasteful themes, into the world, of these peoples lives. They are all desperately looking for an escape, by making irrational decisions, and mistakes. The movie basically rebels against the society view, of the perfect family. This is what happens behind closed doors, this is what happens when we aren't looking and this is what happens when you try to break free. The movie sort of makes a stand against people not accepting people for who they are, and people striving for the wrong things in life. It is telling us that what is true, is what is within ourselves, not what we are told is right. A lot of movies try and get this message across, but this film does it so passionately and so involving that it is better than any film that ever made the attempt. Why was I taken by this movie? Because it moved me in a way that no other film has. It showed me that problems can arise from the most ordinary of lives. That being too ordinary, or too much like everyone else, leads to unhappiness, and leads to depressed states. Acting is crucial to a movie like this, and I think that every actor surprised me in every role, in this film. Kevin Spacey was superb, and flawless. His performance was both confident, and saddening. Annette Bening does a fine job as a woman trying to hold a marriage together, and a family together, while on the verge of having an affair. Thora Birch was a big surprise in this film. This is her best role to date. She plays the character so calmly, confidently that we feel for her. Another performance that needs to be commended is Wes Bentley, who played Ricky Fitts. He is dramatic in his facial expressions, his explanations for beauty in the most horrible of sights, and deserves an oscar nomination. But what is best about this film is the climax. It takes place during a rain storm, and has some of the most heartbreaking scenes I have ever seen. This is where these actors/actress' do their real acting. They pull the story together so nicely, and end it so sadly that we find ourselves totally involved with this story, and moved by the turn out. This movie was a real surprise. Movies like this come along once a year. It is moving in ways that no other film is. It is deeply involving and has some of the best performances in a long time. If this film is snubbed at the oscars, it would be a big disappointment, because it deserves all the recognition in the world. It is daring, compassionate, and doesn't really blame these peoples actions on anything but fate. This is how their lives turned out. Some will break free, in the most unusual ways possible, and some will be stuck where they are for the rest of their lives. And that is a shame, because life is precious, and should not be wasted. Leslie Adams." (10/18/99)