Review of American Beauty (1999) by Filipeneto — 12 Sep 2019

Controversial, bold, with a touch of unpleasant brilliance ... but I confess I was expecting something else.

I confess I expected more from this movie. Considered one of the 100 best films ever by more than one list written by more than one authority on the subject, he has won five Academy Awards from the Hollywood Academy (Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Photography) and three Globes of Gold (Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay). It's an enviable record for a movie that, when we look at it, doesn't seem to justify it ... In fact, just looking at the Oscar nominees for Best Movie in that far 2000s, I liked "The Insider" or "a lot more" The Green Mile "than this movie, which basically portrays the unfulfilled fantasies of a middle-aged, suburban middle-class man when.

In fact, the American middle class is portrayed here in an almost dystopian way: a social group wrapped in huge paranoia about appearances and "looking good," obsessed with politically correct and socially acceptable, trying to keep secrets, taboos, prejudices and imperfections hidden through a beautiful house, a spotless lawn, a new car, a good tie. The patriarch of the family lives a crisis of middle age through the nostalgia of past and underused youth, to the point of feeling a sudden sexual attraction for a teenager. His wife, in turn, is the archetype of frivolity and emptiness, living a marriage of appearances and discounting everything through an extramarital affair. The daughter of this dysfunctional couple is the typical young rebel ... until she decides to plot with her boyfriend to kill her own father. And there is much more throughout the movie. Cartoon characters in a dystopian and uncomfortable portrait, especially for those who identify with the US suburban middle class (not my case at all).

Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening and Thora Birch are the central trio of actors who bring life to a family that is beyond normal. Nevertheless, the three had excellent performances and in fact deserved to be awarded and recognized for that. Mena Suvari also looked good to me as the provocative nymphet. Sam Mendes ensured careful, bold and inspired driving. Having been the first film in which he participated as a director, it was certainly a milestone in his career and secured a future for him.

Provocative, bold, disturbing, is a movie where taboos are put in check and troublesome truths are exposed. It is not at all a family movie or to see with children and young people nearby.