Great Themes, But A Bit Esoteric In Overall Point

Rating: 7/10 (2 March 2017)

"American Beauty" is hailed as one of the premiere films of all-time for its ability to peel back the fake atmosphere of the American Suburb and look at things for how they really are. While the film definitely makes the viewer think about those themes, it also fails to make a real point about what it is trying to say.
For a basic plot summary, "American Beauty" centers on a family living the "typical suburban life" in America. Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is a middle-aged man with a decent-paying job providing for his family. He is also absolutely miserable in his existence. Wife Carolyn (Annette Bening) is an un-loving, career driven women who is just trying to "hold things together" in both her life and her family's. Daughter Jane (Thora Birch) is your typical awkward teenage girl...not knowing where she fits in either at home or at school. One day, the introduction of Jane's new beautiful, seductive friend Angela (Mena Suvari) to father Lester sparks in him some life that he long thought was lost. As Lester beings to throw caution to the wind and basically do what he wants, it sets in motion a chain of events that ripple throughout the entire community. Quirky neighbor boy Ricky Fits (Wes Bentley) capturing all the action on his hand-held camera provides a definitive record for the changes in suburbia.
Clearly, "American Beauty" is a very deep (theme-wise) type of film. It is meant to crash through preconceptions, break down boundaries, and getting people thinking about their lives. In this, the film pretty much succeeds. If you are a human being and breathing, you can probably find at least something to relate to in one (or more) of the characters in the film. Director Sam Mendes does a great job of peeling back the "curtain of normality" that many families live under, showing instead the seedier side of what is really going on. Many of these themes (middle-aged man's infatuation with a teen tart, homosexuality, promiscuity, etc.) will be quite uncomfortable to some viewers, but that is really the whole point. It is kind of meant to shock people in order to get them thinking.
The great acting of the movie also deserves special praise. This is pretty much the role that Spacey seems born to play (a little creepy, a little human), and at times he truly does steal the show. All the auxiliary cast around him, however, turn in great roles. Great character actor Chris Cooper even turns in a complex performance as "Colonel Fits". Without these very real character performances, "American Beauty" would have lost much of its gusto.
All of that being said, I can't quite put "American Beauty" into the upper echelon of my favorite films because it seems to be lacking a "point" to the whole exercise. If the goal of the entire project had been to get people thinking about life in suburbia (and only that), I think it would have appealed to me a bit more. As it is, however, it seems like the movie wanted to make a deeper point...a point that suburbia is not only "fake", but also "harmful" to individual psyches. I could write pages and pages here about these types of themes, but this isn't the forum for that (and it would include a ton of spoilers). Suffice it to say, though, that the film's narrative failed me a little bit in the end in that all the characters seem just as miserable having opened themselves up to their true purposes/desires as when they were repressed. As the final credits rolled, I found myself thinking over and over "so...what exactly was the point of that?".
So, I think that "American Beauty" is a solid film that will get any of its viewers thinking about issues relating to job/life stagnation and "putting on a front" for unhappiness that just masks the problem instead of dealing with it. An entire lifetime can be thrown away in this pattern. Beyond that, the film tries to be a bit more than that and, on those grounds, failed a bit (at least with me). Any fans of "thinking cinema" should at least give it a watch, as it is one of those movies that is tough to truly convey with words. It really must be seen and experienced in order to be "understood".