Deserves all the awards it got...

Rating: 9/10 (10 May 2012)

This modern classic is difficult to define or summarise for the overlapping themes keeps film fans and historians forever pondering, analyse and interpret. Philosophical ideologies are presented with its ever questioning of conventional beauty, the contemporary need for materialism and the uncontrollable nature of mankind's urge to conform. The spiritual and emotional imprisonment, numbness and sedation that Lester endures is what many of us can identify with, this yearn to break-free, rebel against mediocrity and relive adolescence to find oneself. It questions the stance of success, is it financial or personal? Does ambition lead to greatness? Teenage angst is conveyed as significant to the person as the more mature themes. Angst, insecurity and identity are the groundwork for adulthood for if it were to trivialise Ricky, Jane and Anegla's journeys, their own personal searches for acceptance and understanding, then it would risk self- contradicting Lester's rebellion as hypercritical and, snobbishly speaking, superior.
During my personal pondering, I began to seek not only these deeper understandings but more importantly the root to all these issues. The tag-line itself "look closer" could be a hint.
We, as the spectator, must view this not as a reflection or an alternative portrayal of middle-class suburbia but as a satirical fantasy; Lester's postmodern opening narrative "in less than one year, I'll be dead" and the camera swooping over his painfully average suburban neighbourhood indicates this is not natural storytelling. Throughout, its cinematography is conveyed in a dreamlike state, even the shift between reality and Lester's sexual fantasies are only distinguished by a shift in tone and music – during the cheer-leading scene, the dance is personalised and slowed down during the fantasy, juxtaposed against the upbeat showcase in reality; during the bathtub scene, the steam conveys eroticism to contrast Lester's reality in a cold, sterile bed with his wife. Lester is an anti-hero, doing what we all wished we could do; blackmail his boss to leave his confined vacuous career, stay at home, get high and listen to classic rock, and have a job with minimal responsibility.
Now, the root to every issue here is the danger of repression, a dual battle between personal freedom and the necessity of acceptance; for humans it's imperative to adapt and blend with its surrounding environment. Lester believes he has discovered his individuality, but in the third act it becomes apparent his behaviour, the working-out, drinking beer, owning a sports car and lusting after adolescent women are all the stereotypes of being a man, which is why he does not take Angela's virginity nor openly spew his own hang-ups on Angela when she asks, "How are you?" He simply says, "I'm great!"
Carolyn works as the polar opposite, her addiction to fit-in with society's norms without ever confronting her banal existence (elevator music at the dinner table), her deep flaws (she never accepts Jane has issues with her, too) or her negative emotions (overt when happy but forcibly shouts and slaps at herself when sad).
To conclude it conveys a strong message about the destructive consequences of repression, the ugly actions it manifests when left to fester and beauty is subjective not objective. Every Westerner needs to watch and understand this movie.
American Beauty only works with a stellar cast of strong acting, a solid naturalistic script and music which plays a balancing act between reality and dreams. No minor character is stock, every moment is shot and performed with the height of sophistication and it's apparent as to why Spielberg called this upon initial viewing, "you've created a masterpiece."
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