As good as movies get

Rating: 10/10 (21 December 1999)

What an achievement this film was! Perhaps the most interesting film I have seen this past year, it certainly tops my list as the best film of 1999. It is perhaps in my top 5 of the decade. Brilliant direction by stage director-turned film director Sam Mendes brings to life an intelligent script that is free of the contrivances that so many other films have offered as an excuse for intricately woven material.
Ever since "Pulp Fiction" ushered in a new wave of independent films (they're cheaper by the dozen it seems) we have seen one too many dozen bad excuses for an "indie" film; sometimes it seems they become more conventional than your typical Hollywood cop-buddy film: you know, a bunch of colorful characters who get together to pull off a crime, they wear dark clothes, they swear more than they actually converse, and then about 99.9 % of them die by film's end. Even Tarantino himself has secluded himself from the film world it seems, only occassionally taking part in a film production- maybe the impact Pulp Fiction had was a little imposing for him.

And here we have Mendes' American Beauty, one of the freshest takes on the lives of "everyday Americans" I have seen. Kevin Spacey leads a very fine cast in this tale of an emotionally (and morally) bankrupt man whose family detests him. Spacey, through the crush of a girl less than half his age, manages to find new ways to redeem himself: he smokes marijuana and starts working out to lose that flab (sometimes both at the same time!). He even gets a very decent settlement from his employers, which leads to his buying a 1970 Pontiac Firebird... and a new job at a fast food joint he's been dying to work at. Now you gotta love a guy like this.
It is funny however, no matter how much you rave about this film, when people hear the story, there is always at least one eye brow raised. But forget those Hollywood anxieties. This Beauty is a blast.