Very Good! Not Best...

Rating: 8/10 (25 January 2003)

Lester Burnham (Spacey) is a miserable man in what could be described as a perfect household. His wife Carolyn (Bening) is an estate agent and a victim of the tension between her dreams and her actual surroundings. Their daughter Jane (Birch) is a discontented adolescent - or perhaps 'an adolescent' would suffice. The new neighbours are the family of aggravated and doubtful Colonel Fitts (Cooper); the wife who has absolutely nothing to say in that home (alternatively, who has absolutely nothing to say) and the son, Ricky (debut from Bentley), full of inner sensitivity and existential questioning, aided by drugs, the trading of which is the source of a huge income for him. Add the gorgeous cheerleader (Suvari) and the neighbouring homosexual couple, and there's your picture of American beauty.
The beauty, or lack thereof, is found, of course, within the self-examination every character is subjected to. The results may or may not be happy. However, disintegrating the illusion of the perfect picture and reaching the raw parts of reality is, perhaps ironically, the first step towards personal happiness - not to be confused with selfishness. Personal tension is common in all characters, the source of which appears to be in the unrealistic set-ups that they have all surrounded themselves with.

To me this is not the best picture of the year. Having said that, this is a film that can touch every member of every audience, because of its wit and truthfulness, and, not least, the beautiful and captivating work by English theatre-director Mendes. Spacey is good as always, although by no means exceptional. The entire cast is very impressive, particularly newcomer Bentley. The true jewel, in my opinion, is Annette Bening, who is wonderfully convincing as the confused and exasperated woman, torn by her optimistic yet failing attempts at a dream-like lifestyle. Plus she is to be credited with the most vividly entertaining sex scene, probably in the history of cinema.