Over-Hyped Movie is a Bitter Disappointment

Rating: Null/10 (17 March 2001)

Enough pro and con comments have been written about this so-called Oscar-winning "masterpiece" for me to make this review a brief one--but to the point. 'American Beauty' took up too much time to tell a relatively uncomplicated story of mid-life crisis involving several severely disfunctional personalities. If it gives you pleasure to watch Kevin Spacey be little more than sarcastic for two hours or to watch a shallow youth show you a plastic bag pushed about by the wind as a sample of beauty in little things, then this movie is for you. The only genuinely moving and original character in the movie is not Spacey--it's Chris Cooper as the homophobic neighbor who suspects his son is having an affair--with tragic results. His performance in the climactic garage scene is stunning. The symbolism of the rose petals was overplayed and much too simplistic. As was the lengthy shot of the floating plastic bag which so many viewers found deep meaning in--but struck me as arty, pretentious and boring. With a rambling and vulgar script, this emerged as no more than a sad commentary on the complete collapse of American culture. All of the characters are not only weird but unlikeable. For me, this was an ordeal to sit through--the only jolt I got was from the ending (which took too long to get to)-- and then, mercifully, I was able to take the cassette out, certain that I would never want to view the movie again, despite the fact that it won a Best Film Oscar. As someone once said, "the mirror of life should be tilted upwards" more often to make films more inspirational. The gutter is not a pleasant place to spend two hours of your life--look for true beauty elsewhere. A big thumbs down on this one.