Review of American Beauty (1999) by Russell G — 09 Sep 2014
I was not expecting American Beauty to be as good a movie as it was. I had heard that it hadn't aged well and that it was an overrated film. That's nonsense. Absolute nonsense. American Beauty could be the greatest American films ever made.
It's up there, I feel, with Apocalypse Now, Jaws, Casablanca, On The Waterfront, and others. The more I thought about it after I watched the more I continued to admire it. It is a film of so many elements, so many subtexts, all of them so brilliantly done, that to say that the film is about one thing doesn't do service to how many layers are in this film.
American Beauty is a film that defies any one explanation. On the surface it's about Lester Burnham deciding to change his life dramatically after becoming sexually obsessed with a teenage girl. Meanwhile his wife is desperately trying to sustain the facade of her perfect life, and his daughter's problems are basically ignored by the two of them.
Below the surface it is a portrait of the darkside of American suburbia, ancriticism of the facades and lies that people construct around themselves, an attempt to find all the small beauties that exist in our world, and much more.
The genius of this film is that's its able to weave all these elements, themes, and subtexts into a cohesive and satisfying story. It manages to hold all this together, while still being both very tragic, strangely uplifting, and darkly, darkly comic.
Meanwhile every actor onscreen is completely brilliant. It is an exceptionally well-acted film, with every single character becoming unique human beings. American Beauty is one of those rare films where you don't see the A-list actors instead of the human characters onscreen.
You begin to emphasize and fall in love with these characters, warts and all. Any flaw I can find with this film would be absolute nit-picking. The film is an absolute towering achievement that doesn't deserve any of the criticisms it has received.
Truly a masterpiece, anyone and everyone who loves film should see American Beauty.
This review of American Beauty (1999) was written by Russell G on 09 Sep 2014.
American Beauty has generally received very positive reviews.
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