Review of American Beauty (1999) by Liam C — 02 Jun 2015

1999 was a powerhouse year for film and not just the films up for Best Picture, namely, 'Fight Club' and 'Bringing Out The Dead', however, both of those received mixed reception at the time so it makes sense why they weren't recognised for more awards, as well coupled with the lack of love for 'Being John Malkovich' and 'Magnolia'. However, given all the competition, I do find this winning a little odd. I understand that this was certainly something quite daring for its time which is probably why it won but looking back on it, it hasn't aged well at all, and it isn't like this film is all that old, at the time of this review. It's unfair to judge something by modern standards, I know, but it is what it is. I remember looking at a list that was ranking all of the 'Best Picture' winners and it said something about, when you were in high school, you thought this was the deepest film ever and they aren't exactly wrong.

I do like films to be dark and cynical and while, for the most part, it does have some good things to say, other parts of this feel so heavy handed and preachy. One part in particular involving a plastic bag felt almost laughable, it was like the film was going, 'look at me and look how edgy I am'; you could play some horror music over that and it takes an all new meaning. It isn't that I am against artistic dialogue or anything like that but it felt rather melodramatic, as does most of the dialogue with the younger characters nearing the film's end. It is good that a film does appeal to both generations and age groups, but still. The voice over narration seemed odd because how could he even be talking considering what happens to him, and how can he talk about scenes that he was never there for. Honestly, it is used so infrequently that I don't even know why it was included, oh, wait, I do, and its use near the end is to make the film seem smarter than it is, but I digress. It also felt very full of itself and quite false. The cast is good and they all do good jobs, but I do think giving Kevin Spacey an Oscar is a bit over the top, he has some good moments, like at the dinner table when he throws the plate, which he improvised as he was just supposed to throw it on the ground or the speech in bed but other times it seems strange, mostly in the opening scenes. Honestly, regardless of the competition, I don't know how Spacey has won two Oscars for playing pretty much the same type of character, he's a great actor don't get me wrong and he's always totally watchable as well as great in both of his Oscar winning roles but I still believe he only won for 'The Usual Suspects' because of the ending of that film, still, he was great in that film, but this? Well, I don't know... I thought more of the supporting actors should have been up for awards but the BAFTAs had that covered; Chris Cooper was especially excellent with all his little nuances he gives his character.

The film's focus seemed to be all over the place at the start, besides what I already said about the fact that Lester talks about scenes that he wasn't even present for, the film lost focus of his whole infatuation, (ephebophilia), with Angela. Lester even says that, '[I] haven't seen her around here in a while'. While there is something deeper to it than just him wanting to have his way with her, I still don't think it was treated with the utmost seriousness that I think it should have had and deserved, as opposed to it being a quirk. While I do think it is played up to point out how absurd it is, it still bothered me. I didn't really like the way his character was written either, I don't really care how messed up your life is, you don't say, 'can we leave yet' to go watch a James Bond marathon when your daughter is performing right in front of you. We know there is something wrong right from the start as he creepily just looks out the window, however, I do like the way he is written that someone so unnerving is still the sympathetic and relatable lead. Everyone is different and how we deal with situations is different for everyone but I don't really picture any type of decent father saying, 'well done, you didn't screw up' to their own family. I also expected him to pour beer over the couch on purpose as well as say that the drink went down the wrong hole when he spat it out; and I know it wasn't exactly on his list of priorities but going into someone's house all sweaty like that seems off; surely he would clean up first? That's what I would say. Also, what about if his wife walked in on Lester in the garage or outside the door of where Angela was sleeping? Also, what was he expecting to do on the phone when his daughter was in the shower, it wasn't like he could talk. It isn't like his wife is any better, of course she criticises him for doing pretty much nothing wrong and she even complains that he is bench pressing. While her job was uniquely written, her flaw wasn't very obvious, her hugging the clothes at the end shows she is materialistic, oh, big shock.

One of the biggest problems with the film is all its coincidences. They start off small with the fact that Angela knows Ricky, sure, they might explain why, but it didn't feel natural. All the way to the point that Carolyn goes to the exact same place her husband works on the exact same day she is with Buddy, true, it might actually happen but because of the rest of the film's coincidences, it only adds up, however, I will admit it got a reaction out of me. It also felt rather forced how Ricky and Lester met in the exact same evening gathering and I don't really know how Lester's wife knew he was out there, sure, she could have asked, but given all the other coincidences, I'm sure that wasn't even thought about. Also, surely she would have noticed the new car before going into her drive. I felt like the placing of Buddy's advertisements didn't feel natural either, you'd also expect her to clean the pool out a bit. I also didn't like that Angela didn't tell Lester about the fact that her daughter wanted to leave! The gay couple that are in this film felt naturally integrated into the plot like all the other characters but after a while are completely absent, as all they were was set up for another story and I know they're based off of people that Ball knew in real life, but really, they both have the same forename? Given the nature of Ricky's storyline I did expect him at one point to say he was gay but that would be too big of a coincidence, even for this film, but, hey, once again, it does happen. However, while tense, the scene where Ricky is rolling a joint and Lester is sitting on the couch was a bit coincidental as well. I'll admit though, even though I was expecting Ricky's father to see his clips of Lester working out, all those scenes involving Ricky and his father, once more, got a reaction out of me and the way that storyline ends is fantastic.

The film has its iconic moments, even if they are not particularly subtle; the red means danger and the roses, used right from the start, mean lust, as well as working in to the whole, 'Look Closer', tagline, as in, every rose has its thorns, whilst looking incredibly fake. It also just has moments that aren't particularly subtle in general, like Cooper's character sitting in the middle of the couch with his wife just perched on the side, oh, look, he's controlling, thanks for that scene because I hadn't already picked up on that. The soundtrack is hugely uneven with some very standard elevator music used at times, mostly at the start, but it is coupled with some very good piano pieces, that do have a purposely chosen, 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' melody, the editing in some parts is strange as well. The film has its humour and it works but some parts at the start fit with the elevator music to create the feel of the average sitcom; which admittedly might have been the point as to lull the audience into a false sense of security. I do like how the film wraps around back on itself, even if the opening shots, in retrospect, seem rather weird as well as the fact that what she said was recorded and what she said about it being a joke wasn't. And I do like the reveal with who did what at the end as the setup for that was ambiguous and, if you do not know already about the flower, I do like what 'American Beauty' refers to, as one might interpret it means Angela, given what we know from any given synopsis of the film. But that again is compounded with a negative as I don't think the whole, 'look closer', part was particularly deep. It was on Lester's desk at the start and that was why it was used in the final product but it isn't very hard to work out what it means.

I'm torn on this film, despite what it might sound like, on one hand it had me invested throughout its running time and I was very interested in where it would go next and truly did stay with me after it had finished but on the other hand, it seemed overly maudlin, and once again, felt like it was going, 'look at me and look how edgy I am'. There were parts where I couldn't take my eyes off the screen and parts where I was borderline laughing, that's how mixed my reaction to the film is. It does have some very good themes, like the one about not always expecting the other person to make the first move to start a conversation, and does feel somewhat progressive with some of the things it tackles, but the main problem is that it is, and I don't normally say this about a film; pretentious. Its script won for a reason, I know that, and it is nice to see it was an original screenplay, but it's only gotten worse over the years. It isn't because it was made in 1999 that it feels dated as I have seen films about a certain period of time from even further back that still hold up, however, it does give us a gateway to that mindset and the mood from that period of time, which is good. For a debut film it is certainly quite ambitious, but the fact that Sam Mendes, the person who would, many years later, go on to ruin James Bond, has an Oscar, I still can't quite believe, not to mention because of all the other worthy candidates. I haven't just hated this film on purpose because of what I have just stated but I can't say his direction impressed me, besides; you need a script and all the other pieces to work properly for a film to be good, so I'll just say everything else was holding up his direction. Honestly, every category this was nominated for, another film did it better. Best Cinematography, what? It certainly did look nice, but is it really Oscar worthy? It's just that The Academy fell in love with it, is all, but it is nice to see they realized the theme that this presented, even if I think some of the films I mentioned at the start did it better, but I digress. However, it is another film off of the list. 'American Beauty' has its moments but they aren't enough to overcome its preachy tone.