A Dysfunctional Masterwork

Rating: 9/10 (31 March 2000)

Simply put, this is probably the best American film I've seen since Quentarantino's quintessential "Pulp Fiction."
From the opening shot, in which we see a scantily~clad teen matter~of~factly discussing the possibility of killing her father to make her life easier, to the next scene, where we find said 42~year~old daddy masturbating in the shower and proclaiming that this will be the highlight of his day, to the absolutely brutal but pretty much predetermined closing sequence, "American Beauty" beats you into submission with a clarity which I don't recall seeing in years.
For my money, Kevin Spacey's performance is the best by an American actor since Denzel's perfect "Malcolm X."
And, were it not for Hilary Swank's amazing turn as Brandon Teena in "Boys Don't Cry," Bening would have deserved the Oscar as Spacey's bitchy self~determined, self~centered, image is everything, real~estate~queen~wannabe wife.
Within a few scenes, we realize that Spacey is about to leap off the edge.
What with eminently~priveleged Wednesday Addams lookalike daughter [Thora Birch] contemplating his murder with new boyfriend/pot~dealer "Ricky" [eerily portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix's better~looking apparently~twin brother, Wes Bentley] because daddy has been staring at her new sexpot~girlfriend Mena Suvari a bit more longingly than a grown man should, and with mommy Annette spending more time gleaming "Real Estate King" Peter Gallagher's cube than polishing Kevin's bishop, this quickly becomes "ok, so who's gonna kill him first?"
NOTE: I haven't even given anything away that you don't see in the 1st 20 minutes.
And so it goes, with Spacey bowling you over again and again with cool, if twisted, well... twists.
I saw this at the theater five days ago, and I'm still talking about it with anyone who'll listen.
And that's the first time I've done that in years.
The only Oscar it won which should have gone to another film was Conrad Hall's for cinematography. The cin is good but, apart from the excellent plastic bag sequence, only adequate. Leigh's "Topsy~Turvy" should've easily snared the award.
Before I saw "American Beauty," I thought that "The Ice Storm" was a superior film. Still do. But not superior to this.
Because Spacey's "Lester" makes this a true masterwork.
**** of **** Niro~Stars