Scathing painful look at American dysfunctionality

Rating: 10/10 (29 July 2000)

"American Beauty" is one of the few films that not only surpasses it's hype, but was truly deserving of the Best Picture Oscar bestowed upon it.
This stunning look at a dysfunctional suburban upper middle class family is often painful, sometimes funny, occasionally perverse, but always biting and very well done.
Kevin Spacey gives the performance of his career as Lester Burnham, a man who is basically going through a mid-life crisis. He quits his job, blackmails the supervisor into a staggeringly high severance package and begins to assert himself after years of bowing to his wife's wishes. One evening while attending his daughter's dance team performance at a basketball game, he catches a glimpse of a friend and team member of his daughter's and immediately decides he has to have her. This is simply the best performance Mr. Spacey has given to date, and considering the work he's done leading up to this, that's quite a comment.
Annette Bening is Lester's wife Carolyn. A real-estate agent with an inferiority complex about the competition, Mrs. Burnham reveals her admiration for this competition in a drunken stupor. She asks him for advice and ends up with more than she may have intended to get. Possessions matter a great deal to her, and her sex life with Lester is non-existant. Only a great performance from Annette could have been acceptable against Kevin and we certainly got it. Carolyn is every demographically correct woman I have ever met. The only word I have for this is perfect.
Thora Birch plays Jane Burnham, Lester and Carolyn's teenage daughter. Lots of angst in this character as her parents and her have grown apart. Little or no communication exist between the family members regardless of her pleas for such. Jane ends up falling for the "weird" kid next door, Ricky Fitts (an eerie Wes Bentley) and plans to run away with him. Good role here, good enough for what was called for.
Mena Suvari chimes in with her best role yet, the temptress Angela Hayes. A girl who's bark is worse than her bite, Angela relies on her looks and sex appeal to get through life. Mena brings Angela to life, and is very much the lolita who plays bigger than she is.
Supporting cast is quite strong, with Chris Cooper and Allison Janney leading the way as Col. Frank and Barbara Fitts. Peter Gallagher is Buddy Kane, Scott Bakula and Sam Robards play "the Jims" Olmeyer and Berkely respectively. This gay couple in the neighborhood is actually more lively than the Fitts' but don't figure as prominantly in the story as they do.

Director Sam Mendes has created a true masterpiece. Watch it several times to make sure you catch all the symbolism present in the movie, some as blatant as the rose petals surrounding Angela in Lester's fantasies, or as subtile as the red door on the Burnham's home. A Best Picture that was as widely received by the public as it was critically acclaimed.
5 out of 5