True Beauty

Rating: 10/10 (8 November 1999)

It's high time that someone reminded those Americans with particularly tight sphincters that they (and those around them) could enjoy their lives more (and discover more meaning in their lives) if they dedicated themselves to enjoying their lives more. And that might mean remembering stuff they once enjoyed doing and trying those things again. Here in the Land of the Free, this seemingly benign prescription becomes radical stuff when it involves both risking one's pathetic career and firing up the evil weed. There's a lot more going on in this movie and I'm not going to try to cover much of the ground, largely because it's so lovely discovering treasures on your own.
Kevin Spacey is building a legacy of greatness, both in his shrewd choices of roles and in their execution. Here he is allowed to do his finest work to date in a part that seems custom-made for his range of emotion and larger-than-life screen presence. Annette Benning is superb as The Wife, as are the remaining members of the cast. The directing by first-timer Sam Mendes is simply fresh and inspired, particularly in the sumptuously choreographed and filmed dream sequences involving rose petals and a perfectly slutty little cheerleader.
But the inner beauty of this film is in the way it manages to deftly and comically savage a rich suite of dysfunctions eroding the mental health and general contentment of the contemporary American family while paying very close attention to positive, hopeful qualities in almost every character. I was amazed and impressed that it was The Wife of all people who brought tears to my eyes. That the audience is allowed to empathize with these folks, rather than simply pointing fingers at their all-too-human deficiencies, is the film's genius.