What happened? We used to be pals...

Rating: 10/10 (1 March 2000)

If there was any doubt that Kevin Spacey is the finest character actor of his generation, then American Beauty is the film that dispels it. My fear is that he will not be rewarded with an Oscar, a movie that so viciously attacks family and everything that America holds dear is unlikely to hold favour with the academy. Spacey's performance is yet another in a canon of "career-bests" and for the first time, as well as displaying his wonderful dramatic skills, his performance shows his capability for impeccable comic timing, for while the film is dark and brutal, the tremendous dialogue bristles with humour. Spacey's performance while exquisite, is not the best or most suprising aspect of this movie. Annette Bening, my experience of whom being limited to the rather dissapointing Mars Attacks, shows herself to be an actress of considerable range and talent - but in danger because of this of becoming steriotyped into neurotic, career minded characters. American Beauty will never be completely forgotten because it has the ability, as do all good films, to leave something that will linger forever. The 'plastic bag' scene is one of these moments - being funny, then ridiculous, then poignant and deeply affecting. Thats the moment the critics will remember. What will stick with the rest of us are the scenes where the dialogue crackles with wit and panache, scenes which come along all the time. Revelations (like kids that can act ) add to the feeling of intense satisfaction that a film can come so close to the beauty it describes. The irony lies in the title. The beauty it promises is delivered, but is at the same time exactly what the film is attacking, tearing apart what lies at the centre of America. It dessecates what lies on the surface of perfection, and in delving deeper, into the "deep filling" of the American Pie it uncovers the reality, one that is both reaffirming and brutally cynical.