Watching Sam Mendes's "American Beauty" is like taking a roller coaster tour through suburbia - gleeful yet observant that something awry may be happening in each house of each neighborhood. "American Beauty" is the latest 90's view of dysfunctional families of America, a fascinating, complex, irritating, grandiose and finally (and purposely) uneven satire.
Kevin Spacey stars as the hapless, droll Lester Burnham, a magazine writer for a bland organization run by bland businessmen who seemed to have emerged from the offices of the film "In The Company of Men." He is unhappily married to his frantic wife, Carolyn (Annette Bening), a real-estate agent whose sales have depleted due to the new local hotshot honcho in town (Peter Gallagher). They both have a smug, obnoxious daughter, Jane (Thora Birch) whose sole intent in life is to have augmented breasts.
Their new neighbors are not any less strange or threatening to suburbia. There is the intensely coiled former Marine (Chris Cooper) and his catatonic wife (Allison Janney, in an atypical role), and their son, Ricky (Wes Bentley), a video camera freak with a steely gaze in his eyes - he has the ability to see the beauty in things.
There is a dichotomy in the breakdown of these two families. As far as the Burnhams are concerned, Lester and Carolyn (their sexually frustration always in check) listen to dinner music while eating, and Jane (who hates her parents) brings her best friend, a seemingly teenage blonde nymphette named Angela (Mena Suvari), for sleepovers. Angela admits that Jane's father is cute, and claims she wants to have sex with him.
Ricky's family has deep seated hatred towards Jews and homosexuals. His Marine father does not want his son Ricky to resort to drugs use anymore, and regularly beats him if he touches his belongings. Ricky draws more attention to his video camera and films Jane and the rest of her family through his bedroom window - it is his means of escape. And his mother never says a word and seems to live a life of sadness reflected in her endless stares.
By comparison, the Burnhams are living a life with more zest. Lester is drawn to his daughter's sexy friend and has a regressive awakening. He quits his job, starts lifting weights and jogging, and frequently postures and rants about his newfangled freedom. Lester also starts smoking pot, listens to his collection of 70's songs, and tells his family what he really thinks about his life and his marriage. In other words, he is driving them further apart than they were already.
There are many more revelations in the richly designed tapestry of writer Alan Ball's screenplay, and it is unfair to say more because nothing in this film can be predicted. I have been saying for a long time that Hollywood films should take the initiative of relying on character-based narrative to unveil a slice of Americana. Most recent Hollywood films rely on plot to drive the characters forward in motion (see "Pushing Tin") whereas Ball instead lets these characters live and breathe by their passions and hungers - they are not dictated by cumbersome plot points. Essentially, these people are not at all what they seem to be, and slowly other attributes start to evolve in their personalities.
Lester undergoes the most thrilling transformation from a jerky, ironic three-piece suit bureaucrat to a t-shirt wearing, posturing, reborn, virile man with lots of attitude to spare, more so than his cheerleading daughter. He is the anchor of the film, and basically underscores all the tension within his family and his next-door neighbors with his rampant, rebellious slant on life.
"American Beauty" scores heavily with Spacey's beautifully modulated, magnetic performance - it is clearly his best work by far. Annette Bening finally has her zestiest, most radiant role since "The Grifters" - here she accomplishes the rare feat of being sympathetic while simultaneously being pathetic and annoying. Thora Birch also does solid work as the cranky Jane (she certainly grew up since her work in those Harrison Ford/Tom Clancy movies).
One performance that deserves some recognition is the underrated Chris Cooper as the violently abusive Marine. Cooper also played a dad earlier this year in the gentle "October Sky" and has had decent parts in some John Sayles films. Here he demonstrates an intensity that is nearly unwatchable, and his rain-drenched scene with Spacey will make you squirm.
More kudos are deserving of Mena Suvari as the blonde cheerleader friend of Jane's - her role says more about the plight of teenage girls in high school than most teen movies of late. She could give Rachel Leigh Cook a run for her money.
As much as I like newcomer Wes Bentley, his enigmatic Ricky left me unsatisfied, partly because we know so little about him. One critic described him as evil (which he is not) but there is a disarming, almost Norman Bates aura about this kid that is creepily inconclusive. Ditto Ricky's mother who is left in the sidelines, though I imagine we can draw our own conclusions as to why she is virtually catatonic.
"American Beauty" is not perfect or as harrowingly honest as last year's undeniably great "Happiness," but it is entertainingly wicked, insightful and satirical in its unfolding of this slice of suburban life. Once it is over, you will get an urge to drive through the suburbs of any town in America and try to take a peek at what is happening in those family homes.
For more reviews, check out JERRY AT THE MOVIES at http://buffs.moviething.com/buffs/faust/
E-mail me with questions, concerns, or complaints at Faust667@aol.com or at jerry@movieluver.com
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