American Beauty

BACK COVER SYNOPSIS: ...look closer at the most talked about film of the year. A funny, moving and shocking journey through life in suburban America. ...look closer at fortysomething ad man Lester Burnham and his status-seeking wife, Carolyn; as their marriage and lives slowly unravel. Lester's wife hates him, his daughter Jane regards him with contempt, and his boss is positioning him for the axe. ...look closer as Lester decides to make a few changes in his life; the freer he gets, the happier he gets. But Lester is about to learn that the ultimate freedom comes at the ultimate price. ...look closer at an acclaimed cast led by the brilliant performances from Kevin Spacey as Lester and Annette Bening as Carolyn. ...look closer at a "flat-out masterpiece" (Rod Dreher, New York Post).

FILM REVIEW: "American Beauty" is one of those rare films that comes along that not only has all the perfect ingredients: great script, stellar cast, spot-on direction and beautiful images, but it also manages to carry an "X" factor which manages to elevate it beyond the normal film and in to something quite special. In many ways, this is the mainstream version of "Fight Club"; a subversive look at the underbelly of the suburban psyche. At times it's hilarious, at times it's tragic, and at times it's moving. But all the while, you get the message that you only have one life to live and you better not waste it, otherwise... you'll end up like one of the characters in this film.
Lester Bernham, played brilliantly by Kevin Spacey, has lost his lot in life. He's just not sure why he "feels so sedated". Everything started off well but after twenty years of a slow downward spiral in to monotony and discontent with life he now feels jaded, cynical and unhappy with how his life has turned out. It's a message that will hit home for many people (and possibly is an indicator to the massive success of this film), but as Lester points it, "it's never too late to get it back!". He gets it back by standing up to his OCD, domineering wife, blackmailing his boss for a year's pay and going to work in a fast food restaurant where he won't have any pressure, makes friends with the local drug dealer Ricky and starts smoking pot, fantasises about his daughter's sexy high-school friend, getting the car he always wanted and in general starting to try things in his life that he always wanted to do but never did before.
The film is at times extremely funny. In one confrontation between Lester and his wife Carolyn, played to perfection by Annette Bening who by all accounts lived this role during the filming, Carolyn catches Lester "choking the carrot" which she finds disgusting but to which Lester replies, "well excuse me, but some of us have blood flowing through our veins and you're obviously not going to help me out in that department!". Another sequence where their two gay neighbours introduce themselves to the new red-neck, all blooded American who has just moved in is fabulous. "You guys said you were partners, so, what's your business?" - "He is a tax attorney, and he is an anaestheseoligist." Lester's lust for his daughter's high school friend leads him to start behaving like a school kid, especially when she starts leading him on. In one telling scene, Lester is watching the performance of his daughter's cheerleading squad when he notices her friend amongst the dancers. He goes in to a trance-like state and enters a fantasy world. This scene sets the pace for the rest of the film with all of Lester's interactions with her.
There are some haunting, moving scenes in the film as well. When Ricky befriends Lester's daughter, he shows her video tape of a shopping bag floating around in the world. He says it was one of those perfect days, where he just watched this bag dance around in the wind. It was then that he realised that there was so much beauty behind things... The scene is beautiful and underscores the film's main message that there is so much more to life than the petty bickerings that most people get caught up in and are demonstrated so well by the characters.
Perhaps the best aspect of this film is the characters are so well drawn. A lot of these people are pathetic individuals, yet you not only sympathise with them, you realise that they are really just victims of this suburban lifestyle. The red-neck neighbour who is traditional to the bone turns out to be gay when he makes a pass at Lester. Carolyn has become neurotic to the point of being obsessive-compulsive by trying to control everything in her life so there's no chance that anything will go wrong, but as Lester points out, there was a time when she didn't care about these things. Lester's daughter's friend, despite having model looks, is a stuck-up little princess who ends up revealing her true beauty to Lester when she's confronted by her friend and told how ugly she really is. All of these moments, and many more, make the film truly special, and allow each of us to recognise either ourselves or someone we know in each of these characters, and that with a few exceptions, most people have redeemable qualities if they are allowed to show them.
"American Beauty" won 5 Oscars in 2001 and deservedly so. This is a great film and will make you think twice about your life.

TECHNICAL REVIEW: Given this film is only a single disc DVD the transfer holds up remarkably well. The picture is clean and mostly crisp throughout without much artefact or problem. The audio is likewise well produced, with the soundtrack faithfully represented. Overall, a well produced disc.

EXTRAS REVIEW: This DVD contains a shortish featurette that goes behind the scenes of the film, an audio commentary from the director and screenwriter, a storyboard presentation with the director and cameraman, and two theatrical trailers. They're okay and give you a good insight in to the film but the lack of a solid documentary is a minus. The featurette does have some detail that goes beyond the standard promotional featurette (including an interesting vice of Steven Spielberg who apparently likes to watch films on his own in his own theatre) but there's a sense that the filmmakers started to believe their own hype. Sure they made a great film but don't tell us how good you were at doing that.

BOTTOM LINE: Worth having in the collection.

FILM RATING: 9/10 -- EXTRAS RATING: 6.5/10 -- OVERALL DVD RATING: 8/10 

Todd Murphy <br />
http://www.allaboutmovies.net

With the Oscars airing last night, I felt it was about time I actually reviewed a somewhat current winner.  American Beauty, I believe is the film that started the trend of films that no one really knows dominating the awards. I know that I had never heard of it before the 2000 Oscar ceremony.
The acting in this film is superb. Kevin Spacey, as many forget, is a very competent actor. Throughout this film, he goes from being a totally sane man to the verge of madness and the audience is captivated by it through the entire journey. As a matter of fact, we’re not really creeped out by his infatuation with a 16 yr old friend of his daughter.
Thora Birch was born to play this role. A moody teenager who doesn’t believe she’s as beautiful a she is. Sounds just like Thora, to me. She gives the performance of her lifetime on screen, and you can feel her disgust with her father drooling over her friend.
Mena Suvari must have a thing for films with “American” in the title. Along with this, she appeared in the first two American Pie films as well as American Virgin.This role is a departure from her character in Pie, though. She’s sexually promiscuous and more confident in herself, at least when the film begins, as it progresses and we learn more about her, though, she loses some of that confidence (which seems to be going to Thora Birch). Still, her take on this role is not one to sneeze at. Suvari will be a force to be reckoned with in years to come.
Wes Bentley and Annette Benning round out the primary cast and give riveting performances. Bentley is totally creepy as the stalker-ish next door neighbor and Benning shows why she’s been around as long as she has with the range of emotions she goes through in this film.
After watching this film, I am not surprised that it won the Oscar for best picture. It is very well written, directed, and acted. The characters are very believable and you really get a feel for them and the pain they are going through.
I’m not one to usually watch these “artsy-fartsy” films, but this is one that I will watch over and over again. It is THAT good. You should also give it a viewing.

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