Although we need to know more about his motivation, Fitts treats son Ricky with extra-stern discipline, virtually jailing him for two years after the boy smokes pot and severely beats a schoolmate. First-time film director Sam Mendes does a nice job with Alan Ball's script. One criticism is that Mendes, a veteran of theater, is overly enamored with the medium of film. Composition and framing are often very noticeable, distracting viewers from the action, and in fact causing the action to move at a slow pace at times. Further, imagery involving red roses and water lend the story a whimsical resonance.
Several scenes benefit from a stark soundtrack of piano and marimba.
Angela Hayes is as beautiful as the red rose of the film's name, but beauty is in fact skin deep. Ricky often mentions beauty when talking of his filming. In one sequence that he shows to Jane, a white plastic bag is tossed in a tiny whirlwind among the leaves on an empty sidewalk, a symbol of the beauty that results from being human - from being tossed about and absorbing the aches we get from love or the lack of it, which is neglect. The beauty these characters experience or miss is again typically American, and the result is a tale of immorality and wonder that causes mixed feelings toward the characters and their actions. The film is rated R for language and drug use, a couple of scenes of extreme violence, and strong sexual content.