This is the high point of my day.

Rating: 10/10 (25 May 2016)

Life as embracing as it can be for some, has beauty that is often overlooked, or even denied through the ignorance of the mundane. For a soul as lost as Lester Burham( Spacey), the only happiness he can enjoy starts and ends from whacking off at the crack of dawn. "This is the high point of my day," words that further reveal the very unhappiness of the film's cynical but pitiful protagonist. English stage director Sam Mendes had marked his directorial debut with the making of American Beauty, a Dream Works production, originally written by Alan Ball for the stage, rather than the big screen. The film's tag line, "Look Closer," further coveys the message of looking beyond the simple, and discovering the very beauty behind anything life has to offer.
Lester is 42 years old, married to a materialistic wife Carolyn (Benning), is estranged from his daughter Jane (Birch), and sees himself as a gigantic loser. As Lester narrates his miserable existence with enough apathy to further express his sadness, and as he goes on and on, does he reveal his imminent death to take place in less than a year. As much as a kicker that may be for audiences, the sad part of it all was Lester's place in life, lost, and with very little to look forward to other than the James Bond movie marathon on TNT (very exciting indeed)
Through the erotic dancing of Jane's friend, Angela (Suvari) in her cheer leading uniform, Lester fantasizes and discovers a beauty in life that went far beyond a childish infatuation. From this point on Lester grows braver, more independent, and more self-reflective towards the life he once lived, trying to dispel the hypocrisies that still plague his family. Annett Benning's powerhouse performance of a character as insecure and as depressing as Carolyn ranges from her failures as a real estate agent, as well as the materialism that grips her personality. Her own reluctance to cry is further expressed by her fear of vulnerability, thus ending in self- demeaning motivation. It is through her own epiphany of self- discovery that she finds an even greater thrill for life. In fact, Alan Ball's scripts introduces various characters just as lost, or just as curious as Lester and Carolyn, as they all search for something the suburban lifestyle can't destroy or taint.
Angela never stops bragging about every man she's slept with. The Burham's next door neighbor Colonel Fits (Cooper) enforces his macho demeanor over his delinquent son Ricky (Bentely) in a desperate attempt to block out his own doubts and insecurities. In both his honesty and curiosity towards what is beyond the simplicity of any image, Ricky marvels at the very beauty so many characters search for, but few find.
Materialism, repression, conformity, liberation, and inner growth defined the very message of a film as familiar and yet clearly effective as American Beauty. The portrayal of American suburbia is as honest as it is horrifying to watch in its humorous depiction. It's a life that is seen as pleasant, but with rather dull circumstances that by the time enough people realize it, life has been passing them by tragically. The more positive moments of the film are actually captured in the realm of fantasy that further pushes for a reality beyond the torment most of the characters endure. Conrad Hall's cinematography beautifully captures Lester's erotic fairy tale fantasies, as he descends into happiness, and the purity he has achieved in the conclusion of the film and his life.
In the 15 years since American Beauty's release, it has garnered a reputation far beyond its 8 Oscar nominations as a drama that reaches audiences on both an entertaining as well as a more socially engaging level. The desire to discover true happiness is honest enough from the dramatic and yet equally humorous performances by Kevin Spacey and Annette Benning. Spacey has always had the upper hand in his sarcasm, and Benning matches him in her neurotic tone of expression. Both entertaining and influential, American Beauty marked an era in the film making career of director Sam Mendes as he has gone to direct equally effective dramas, exploring controversial social norms, such as, Road to Perdition, and Revolutionary Road, thus embodying an expression of film making that reveals often deeper and more compelling truths to our flawed society and the traditional norms that cripple it from reaching a liberation it is in desperate need of. The truths within American Beauty go far enough to challenge the notion of life and how sadly limited it is. Human beings fear death, knowing nothing of what is to happen after, if anything of the sort, and instead of valuing the precious time we have, we squander it on measly martial possessions, and binding social institutions, deluding ourselves into thinking it will further define our character. The here and now is all that we have, and the only thing we can truly depend on. American Beauty is an inspiration, if not also a wake up call to enjoy the time we have. Life, one minute you have it, and then it's gone.