Much more than a male menopause movie

Rating: Null/10 (29 September 1999)

You know how some ads may make one character or actor seem more important to the movie than they actually are? AMERICAN BEAUTY is one movie where that isn't likely to happen, as I've seen three different kinds of ads for this movie; those emphasizing Kevin Spacey, those emphasizing Annette Bening, and those emphasizing Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, and Mena Suvari. All of them get equal play in this movie. From the reviews, you might think this was simply a male menopause movie, in the vein of LAST TANGO IN PARIS, but while we do get that, it fails to do this movie justice. Director Sam Mendes and writer Alan Ball present these people as people, rather than just one-dimensional idiots to hang a supposedly profound thesis onto(like the so-called profound HAPPINESS), so that we actually care about them and understand their actions. And each of them gets their own story.
For a theater director, Mendes also seems quite confident behind the camera as well. His use of the camera and his willing to take chances visually are almost always compelling(though admittedly, the rose petal fetish got to be a bit much). The use of music is also inspired(you may never listen to "Bali Hai" the same way again), and special points for using the original of "American Woman," rather than some cover version(I usually have nothing against covers, but Lenny Kravitz(who I normally like) did an awful version of "American Woman" for the AUSTIN POWERS sequel). And the script also takes chances and goes for surprises, particularly in the last act.
Finally, the performances. It goes without saying Spacey is terrific, as is newcomer Wes Bentley, and Chris Cooper and Peter Gallagher add dimension to what could be stock characters. Mena Suvari does the same to her character(the one Spacey becomes infatuated with), and she's part of the surprises at the end, which she handles convincingly. And Alison Janney, a character actress I've long liked, is almost unrecognizable as Bentley's out-of-it mom. But the two I want to spotlight are Birch and Bening. I liked Birch in PARADISE and an "Outer Limits" episode where she played a girl with telekinetic powers, but while she had moments in PATRIOT GAMES, she really hasn't had a role suitable to her talents since until this one. In interviews, Birch describes this as the "Christina Ricci" role, and again, it may look that way on the surface, but there's so much more going on, and Birch handles it all convincingly. As for Bening, I don't think she'd be my first choice for this type of role, but she handles it with ease, and hits the right comic note every time, especially at her scene on the firing range. It's also fun to think of her character here as kin to Myra, the con artist she played in THE GRIFTERS. In short, you think you have this movie pegged? Look closer.