A closer look at the American Dream

Rating: Null/10 (26 September 1999)

This is an odd film -- funny, wicked, and sad. The cast is great in creating both the superficial aspects of their characters as well as the vulnerable interiors which, ironically, they not only fear but also admire and even
desire. In this respect, the film has a complete tone of
irony throughout.
Spacey is a suburban Thoreau who leads the search for freedom from the quiet desperation of people trapped in
the ordinary. Rebelling against the fake Bali Ha'i of couches, pleasantries, and masks in the vapid life of the
middle-class rat-race, he decides to seize the day and
make some meaning of his life. His attempt to regain his
own American Dream is woven into the struggles of the other people around him to do the same.
Like everything else in the film, the title is an irony -- the American Beauty rose has its thorns and isn't what it appears to be. We must take a closer look to see what life is all about. If we don't, we will come to the end of life and realize that we have never lived.