More Everything!

American Beauty, is one of those films that seems to exist perfectly at its point in time. It is a snapshot of the late 1990s, yet doesn’t feel dated. You watch it and are instantly transported into that year of events that is happening on screen, yet it feels like it could be happening today, tomorrow, or even 20 years from now. It just feels right! There are so many stories and ideas on the screen, but none feel rushed or under-utilized, even though there really is no clear resolution. It mirrors life so well, we go about our days, meet new people, grow, change our views and then we are gone.

The film follows Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) as he lives out his final year of life in a beautiful suburb with his wife (Annette Benning) and daughter, Jane (Thora Birch). He announces during the opening naration that he will be dead in a year.

What follows is a pretty standard story of the middle-aged man going through a mid-life crisis. He has fallen out-of-love and into apathy with his wife. His daughter, a pseudo-goth-lite teenager, has no respect for him, etc, etc, etc. But the story doesn’t get stale. All of the charcters are fleshed out so fully. The supporting cast is amazing, with many heavy hitters (Allison Janney, Chris Cooper, Peter Gallagher, et al). Even though most of the characters have very little screen-time, you feel their pain and struggles as they attempt to live their lives. The film is a great mix, of wonderful writing (Alan Ball’s script), great direction and scene composition (Sam Mendes’ first time behind the camera) and lush photography and lighting (one of Conrad L. Hall’s last films as cinematographer).

Chris Cooper’s turn as Jane’s boyfriend’s father, is some of the most powerful, yet restrained acting, I have ever seen. He makes it look so easy, to play someone so torn and conflicted. The scene with Lester in the garage, during the rain, is so moving, I could teach a master class on acting with that!

And I can’t not mention Annette Benning’s portrayal of Lester’s wife. She takes what was most like a typical supporting role and elevates it to that of an equal.

Right before the ‘shocking conclusion’ is my favorite scene of the film. Lester is in the kitchen talking to Jane’s friend Angela, and he asks:

Lester Burnham: How’s Jane?
Angela Hayes: What do you mean?
Lester: I mean, how’s her life? Is she happy? Is she miserable? I’d really like to know, and she’d die before she’d ever tell me about it.
Angela: She’s… she’s really happy. She thinks she’s in love.
Lester: Good for her.
Angela: How are you?
Lester: God, it’s been a long time since anybody asked me that… I’m great.
Angela: I’ve gotta go to the bathroom.
Lester: I’m great.

Lester is able to confirm that his daughter is living her life the way she wants to. She has problems, she thinks she’s in love, but she is living life. Life goes on. And with that he realizes, that that is what makes him happy.

American Beauty is a film I imagine revisiting often. I wonder what parts of the movie I will connect with when my children are older and starting to live there independent lives…I can’t wait to find out. KEEPING this DVD (maybe even upgrading to the BLU-RAY!)