Review of American Beauty (1999) by Ryan E — 01 Mar 2014

"American Beauty" swept the major awards for the Oscar in 1999 including Best Picture and was highly praised by critics. I hated it. This is another supposed satire on the dysfunctional family hiding behind a facade of picture perfect suburban America.

There have been so many movies on this theme it has become its own genre. Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening are Lester and Carolyn Burnham, a married couple with a rebellious teen daughter (Thora Birch) who argue constantly.

We're supposed to see these people having a midlife crisis. Spacey smokes pot, carries on a flirtation with his daughter's friend (Mena Suvari), and quits his professional job to work at a drive-thru, so he can conveniently catch his wife in the act of an affair.

The neighbor, a strict military father (Chris Cooper), browbeats his son (Wes Bentley) and spouts off homophobic slurs before he reveals himself to be a closeted homosexual. Throughout the movie characters appear to be one way but later reveal themselves to act in contrast to their appearance.

These revelations always feel contrived. The dialogue is often forced. The film is well made and acted, with special kudos to cinematographer Conrad Hall, but there is an overall smugness that made me resent it.

The filmmakers pander to the liberal view of the ugliness lurking beneath the mundane life in suburban America that we're supposed to feel superior to. Sam Mendes is clearly inspired by Billy Wilder but his movie lacks the sentimentality that Wilder balanced with his cynical tone.

In "American Beauty" the heavy-handed melodrama undermines the satire. Along with the Best Picture Oscar, it won for Best Actor (Spacey), Director, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography. With Peter Gallagher, Allison Janney, Scott Bakula, Sam Robards.