In Mendes' Curdled 'American' Dream, 'Beauty' Runs Deep!

Rating: 10/10 (13 April 2015)

An acerbic, darkly comic critique of how social conventions can lead people into false, sterile and emotionally stunted lives, American Beauty is a real American original.
Something's rotten in suburbia and it doesn't take long to get to the source of the stink – the Burnhams. Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is a middle-aged burnout who is a marginalized husband to efficient, well-scrubbed Carolyn (Annette Benning) and a disregarded father to sullen teenager Jane (Thora Birch) and whose everyday life has degenerated into tedium. Browbeaten Lester is rejuvenated by the vision of a blonde Lolita. That the object of his obsession happens to be his daughter's best friend, a calculating sylph named Angela (Mena Suvari), matters not at all; he leaps into his fantasy like an enflamed teenager. Unhappy Carolyn undertakes an affair of her own while Jane, repulsed by her dad's hormonal attraction, secretly welcomes the attention of Ricky Fits (Wes Bentley), the strange, self-possessed boy next door. And just when things seem to be falling in place for the Burnhams, it all comes crashing down. If this sounds too depressing, guess again!
Although it's difficult to believe that humor can be found in this toxic portrait of superficial suburban values, predatory sexuality and domestic violence, rest assured it earns its laughs at every turn. Screenwriter Alan Ball gives the viewer a brief, horrific tour of crossed wires, inchoate longing, dashed illusions and resentment that wells from poisoned hearts with staggering self-assuredness. Sam Mendes (in one of the most promising debuts in cinematic history) whips the audience around from humor to horror to something poetic and humane. He suffuses the proceedings with a palpable sense of danger, keeping film-goers unsettled until the very end as to what exactly motivates these complicated characters. But he never loses sight of the humanity behind even the most reprehensible acts, a balancing act pulled off with unusual acumen.
American Beauty turns out to be emotionally satisfying, thanks in large part to a remarkably nuanced performance by Kevin Spacey. He commands the screen with a performance of subtlety, vulnerability and supreme confidence, in which he expresses mordant self-mockery and poignancy in a single gesture. He brings flawless comic timing to Lester's self-absorbed, infantile and rapacious behavior while holding on to the pathos of Lester's rage. Benning turns in her finest performance to date and all three teen players give sturdy and courageous portrayals in roles that would daunt actors twice their ages.
Visually daring, dramatically astute, and beautifully acted, American Beauty is a tart, funny and tremendously sobering movie about the deepest recesses of personal unhappiness. There's a sense of poignancy at the end, but also the feeling that we have been on an incredible trip through the lives and souls of three perfectly- realized characters. The result is the kind of artful defiance that Hollywood is usually too timid to deliver: a jolting comedy that makes you laugh till it hurts!