AMERICAN BEAUTY RATING: 7.5 / 10 --> Very Good Movie
For more reviews and movie screensavers, visit http://www.joblo.com/
I've been accused of not appreciating the "deeper" and "romantic" films by some in my circle (Okay, so I didn't love SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE...shoot me!), but if this week is any indication, JoBlo is finally starting to go soft. First of all, I actually enjoyed and choked back a few wet ones during Kevin Costner's FOR LOVE OF THE GAME (7.5/10). And then, as if that wasn't enough, I rate this commercial art-house adult dramedy as a very good movie? Something must be wrong. Not really. In fact...everything is just beautiful! :)
PLOT: A husband bored with his life and family suddenly wakes up and smells the coffee when he "falls for" one of his daughter's slutty teenage friends. A wife, bent on succeeding in her career, drinks a lot and "falls for" the town's biggest real-estate hotshot. A daughter, feeling awkward and freaky, "falls for" a bizarre neighbor kid who likes to videotape almost everything he sees (So that he could remember it!). In the end, will any of them really "fall" or find exactly what they are looking for?
CRITIQUE: If you are the type of person who appreciates every minute of your life, then you may just enjoy this film to its fullest potential. If you are the type of person who doesn't appreciate every minute of your life or the people around you, then you may just need to see this film, and learn to appreciate its full potential.
This film is original in story, interesting in premise, acted sharply by its well-rounded cast, directed in a manner made all the more absorbing, and edgy and humorous enough to keep me going, despite some pseudo-existential stuff floating around from time to time. Before I go on any further, let it be said that an actor by the name of Kevin Spacey rocks! Okay, now that I got that off my chest, let's go on. Many are comparing this film to the highly praised 1997 film ICE STORM (6/10), but despite some general similarities, I found the latter film to have very little surface and too much esoteric depth, while this one delivers a fresh, livelier outlook on its subjects, despite their obvious miseries.
Don't get me wrong, there were some moments in this film when I did find myself rolling a little of the eyes, especially when it concerned scenes between the weird (A little too strange for my taste) neighbor kid, and the daughter. But whenever Spacey took center stage, man stand back, cause that bastard sucked me right back into the thick of things! Having said that, this film is definitely an "adult" film to be savored by people who are in touch with themselves and appreciate a frank, sometimes brutally honest, look at their pathetic and drab existence. I personally enjoyed the strong performances by the cast, especially Spacey and the friend of his daughter (And yes, I wanted to nail her also!), the finale, which seemed like it was going one way but then kept curving back every now and again, and the dark humor, which filled many of the scenes. Certainly an overly valiant effort from first time director Sam Mendes, who seems to have a solid grasp on the pulse of characters going through varied difficulties in their lives. Admittedly, I went into this film with mucho expectations, so don't take my nitpicking too seriously. Check it out for yourself and see how you feel. It may just help you appreciate certain aspects of your life much better. Just look closer... (Sorry, but I had to!).
Little Known Facts about this film and its stars: Actor Kevin Spacey was rumored to be gay for many years, until he recently came out and said that he wasn't (Take you time there, buddy!). His full name is Kevin Spacey Fowler, and he was born in New Jersey. Spacey is his mother's maiden name. Kevin's sole directorial gig to this point has been 1996's ALBINO ALLIGATOR. This is the 14th film in which Annette Bening has participated. Nobody would remember this, but she actually played a character named "Vicky" in a 1987 episode of "Miami Vice". She has been married to the man with the golden dick, Warren Beatty, since 1992, and the are currently expecting their 4th child together! This won't be much of a "little known fact" after the release of this film, but teen actress Thora Birch has got a great set of knockers! Wow. She also played the character of Sally Ryan, daughter of Jack Ryan, in PATRIOT GAMES and CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER. Many of you hot-blooded teens will remember lovely actress Mena Suvari from this summer's big teen horn-fest, AMERICAN PIE (7/10). She played the nice, innocent girl. What a stretch from her role in this one! Her first role in a big-time movie was 1997's KISS THE GIRLS (7/10) with Ashley Judd. The man who plays the father neighbor in this film is actor Chris Cooper. He played Uncle Joe in 1998's GREAT EXPECTATIONS and has been in three John Sayles films. Director Sam Mendes is best known for his direction of the current Broadway version of Cabaret, and the Nicole Kidman nudie-show The Blue Room. He hails from jolly England. This film is his directorial debut.
Review Date: September 15, 1999
Director: Sam Mendes
Writer: Alan Ball
Producers: Bruce Cohen and Dan Jinks
Actors: Kevin Spacey as Lester Burnhan
Annette Bening as Carolyn Burnhan
Thora Birch as Jane Burnham
Genre: Dramedy
Year of Release: 1999
---------------------------------------
JoBlo's Movie Emporium
http://www.joblo.com
---------------------------------------
(c) 1999 Berge Garabedian
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews