An American Beauty! Look closer...

Rating: 10/10 (6 February 2000)

Bought by Steven Spielberg for Dream Works Pictures, the screenplay of "American Beauty" was given to the British director Sam Mendes (this is his first movie) with just one condition: "Don't change even a line". Result: the movie is being acclaimed by American and international press and, due to its favoritism (American Beauty is the winner of three Golden Globes: best screenplay, director and picture), it is being considered the motion picture that will probably win the Oscar for best picture of the year, in March 26th. "American Beauty" is one of those unusual motion pictures, that eventually come up to show that the industry of American cinema is not restricted to commercial productions to be consumed by the public, without any sense of criticism.
It is a narrative, starring Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening, that concerns the appearances of our lives, based on the relationship of an American family. What the movie try to and does demonstrate is that, in fact, nothing is what appears to be. (that is why the movie tagline "... look closer" makes sense) In "American Beauty", almost all the characters pretend or seem to be what they really don't are. All except Lester Burnham, the character performed by Kevin Spacey, who, with nothing to lose, do vanish all appearances, starting to behave like a teenager, as a try to escape from the familiar coma. Slowly, this brilliant story discard the apparent American beauty. There is no more American way of life, there is just life. And the beauty is found in the most ordinary thing of life. We just need to look closer. And this is the essence of the movie, this is what makes it special, an excellent American film, with excellent screenplay, direction and performances.
"American Beauty" has many in common with the movie "The Ice Storm", specially for the way it depicts the family relationship: with coldness, lack of dialog, and conjugal crisis. Both pictures consist in a social critic to this institution, which is the family. The American family, to be more exactly. But that is all, because Ang Lee's film is a serious story, full of metaphors, that takes place in the Nixon Era, a moment of changes in the social situation of America. "American Beauty" is a light film, which constantly sways between comedy and drama, and takes place in a suburb of contemporary America.
Hollywood makes history with "American Beauty", marking a time of turning its attention to more mature and better written scripts. Now, it is going to be perfect if the public accepts this new style of American movie and start to face cinema as an art and not a mere entertainment. So, take a look! We don't see a film like this every time we go to the movies.