Still great

Rating: Null/10 (15 February 2002)

When this movie came out, I wrote on 9/22/99 the following: "American Beauty may well be the last great film of the century, and this is perfectly fitting. The film, on the surface, examines a dysfunctional family in a 'perfect' suburban environment. But the film actually wants us to look at ourselves. Things need to change. We need to change. Or we will become 'plastic' or 'sedated' like Annette Bening and Kevin Spacey's characters. The movie is about the dehumanizing effects of 1) repressing feelings and 2) pretending that everything's 'spectacular.' The only 'real' characters were the daughter (Thora Birch) and the guy next door with his camera. And they're constantly branded in this film as being 'weird' or a 'psycho.' The movie really impacted me to the point of actually developing a different outlook on life. It's that good. The ending is perfect. The film borrows from other movie sources like 'The Ice Storm,' 'Happiness,' 'Ordinary People' and even 'It's a Wonderful Life' and creates something wholly unique, funny and extraordinary. I doubt I'll see a better film this year."
Well, over two years later, after everything that has happened since September 1999, the film still works. Although the romantic side of me wanted to change my life like Lester Burnham after watching this, the
pragmatic side of me said "be careful." But it's alright to fantasize, and live vicariously through Lester Burnham (who did pay a price for his "freedom," of course).
This film, which closed the '90s, and "Joe Versus the Volcano," a tremendously underrated movie that opened the decade, actually work as bookends for me. The films have many similarities, despite their tones (dark and cynical for American Beauty and light and romantic for Joe).
Both are about unhappy men who find comfort in death (or dying, in the case of Joe). Lester and Joe both take extreme steps to improve their "situations," and watching their stories unfold on film continues to give me great pleasure, even after the 10th viewings. Both films are lyrical and quite beautiful, and both require the viewer to "look closer" (to borrow American Beauty's tagline). This is especially the case for Joe Vs. the Volcano, which has been trashed as a "silly trifle" by many but is just as deep as American Beauty if you do "look closer."