Philosophical and Thought Provoking

Rating: 10/10 (14 September 2013)

American Beauty (1999) is a film about Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), a suburban father slipping deeper and deeper into depression, struggling to deal with his bitch-on-wheels wife and a daughter that hates him. When he meets his daughter's attractive friend, that sparks a mid life crisis, and he decides to turn his life around. The plot sounds trite when you describe it; A man going through a mid life crisis dealing with family issues, lusting after his daughters sex kitten teenage friend. The characters are all cliché; the midlife crisis dad, his bitch-on-wheels wife, his sassy teenage daughter that hates her parents, the homophobic military man next door, and the promiscuous high school girl. We've all seen those characters in movies before. What amazes me about this film is how they brought all these characters together and produced a philosophical movie that makes you think about society. "My wife and daughter think I'm this chronic loser." Lester complains, and they see him like that for good reason. "Just look at me, jerking off in the shower, that's the high point of my day, it only goes downhill from here" Lester comments as we see a visual of a body blurred by the glass door of a shower, facing away from camera as his arm moves up and down. When you see his infatuation with his daughters friend, Angela (Mena Suvari) you find it amusing and somewhat comical. You see how he acts during his midlife crises, what he says and his actions are also very amusing, and you wish you could get away with doing stuff like that. Carolyn Burnham (Annette Bening) is a real estate saleswoman who is obsessed with the idea of success. "That's my wife, Carolyn. You see the way her pruning shears match her gardening clogs? That's not a coincidence" Lester remarks introducing her in the beginning of the movie. Carolyn has an obsession of her own, her public image. Jane Burnham (Thora Birch) is the stereotypical teenage girl, sassy, parent-hating, and insecure. She's the opposite of her friend Angela. She's solemn, non-promiscuous, and she's not attractive in the way our society defines it. "I need a father who's a role model, not some nerdy geek boy who's going to spray his pants every time I have a girlfriend over." She remarks to her boyfriend Ricky. She's embarrassed by his dad, and the way he lusts after Angela. Most people that review this movie see her as a bad person, but as a fellow teenager, I can empathize with her. To me, the most thought provoking and intriguing character is Ricky Fits (Wes Bentley), the strange boy next door who video tapes all of his life experiences and sells drugs. Ricky seems to find beauty in everything he sees, and seems strange from the outside. When you look into his family though, and you see his abusive, homophobic, marine father and his defeated mother, you realize what's going on behind closed doors. This movie has so many different lessons about society. First of all, the tagline, "Look Closer" is a lesson in itself. If you just look at everybody without paying attention to detail, you won't notice anything wrong, but if you look closer, you realize that everybody is in some way or another, trying to fit in. It also taught me that if you look close enough, you can find beauty in everything. For example, the plastic bag scene where Ricky films a plastic bag floating in the wind for fifteen minutes. While people may say "It's just a plastic bag, what so beautiful about that." To which I would say that beauty is subjective; what one person finds beautiful might be repulsive to another person. This movie also beautifully illustrates the disillusionment phenomenon we all have experienced, which is when you realize something is not as good as it once seemed. It also taught me to not judge a book by its cover. From the outside, the Burnham's look like the perfect family, but behind that bright red door, it's a totally different story. This is one of those movies that if you get it, you'll love it but if you don't, you'll hate it. If you come in to it watching with an open mind, all you need to do is sit back and watch, and be amazed by its beauty. If you want a philosophical drama movie that will make you think about the society we live in, then this is the movie for you. If you're going to watch a movie, I encourage you to watch it with an open mind. This movie taught me many valuable lessons about society, all while being entertaining and funny at times. 10/10