American Irony

Rating: 9/10 (10 December 2003)

Idealistically, suburbia is the embodiment of many goals held up as the American Dream: home, family, and all the proper accoutrements from the best stores. It's seen as a haven from the troubles of the world. No gangs, no unrest and total peace of mind that order will prevail are all assured. American Beauty ponders the possibilities of mid-life goals burying one's identity and the keys to knowing yourself. It's a frightening portrayal of how that buried knowledge can rot under a picture-perfect topping.
That quiet seems to be more of a ravage on the town that Lester (Kevin Spacey) and Carolyn Burnham (Annette Bening) inhabit. The routine is all that's left of their marriage as Lester narrates his stumbling through work, dinner and sexual deprivation. Carolyn has destroyed friendships with her neighbors by having a favorite bordering tree removed for the sake of getting more sun in her yard. The new family occupying the home of the scorned neighbors are, for all appearances, perfect. The father boasts a military career; the mother is a quiet homemaker, and son studious and reserved. No one here is really everything their appearances project. Happiness is elusive even for those who have it all. Those who drop the need for appearances (such as openly gay, but economically stable, couple Jim and Jim) are clearly more relaxed than the intense Burnhams. Lester has hit his limit, and a brief encounter with his daughter Jane's (Thora Birch) sexually overt friend, Angela (Mena Suvari), is all it takes to set Lester off looking for the things missing in his life.
Broadway veteran and film freshman, Sam Mendes, has made an actor's movie, an exquisite debut from a stage director. Spacey's Lester frustrates Carolyn as he starts taking a stand for himself becoming increasingly unpredictable while remaining unflappable. He turns that cool onto everyone and begins shaping his life into the dreams he had forgotten. The precise control that Bening infuses into Carolyn is frightening to watch as she clings to every shred of her status as a floundering real estate agent. Thora Birch and Wes Bentley bring quiet and believable passion to their two introverts awakening to each other. Bentley's quiet, but strong performance is a surprise as he is an actor with almost no previous experience. (He is rumored to have auditioned with only a Polaroid for a headshot.)
There are few movies that could give the near-perfect production in American Beauty competition. The photography of Academy Award Winner, Conrad Hall, is still dead-on; illustrating every detail, but never showing off. The camera is patient, but colorful, particularly when Lester dreams about Angela. Those dream sequences bring the audience into the sensuality of Lester's desire of Angela but never gratuitously expose Mena Suvari. After garnering multiple Oscars in 2000, this is destined to be a classic.
9 out of 10