“American Beauty” is a movie I felt compelled to write about because I think it was widely misinterpreted, especially by critics, as a great movie. It received almost unanimously great reviews and was awarded Academy Awards for Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Screenplay. Sam Mendes, a respected theater director in his film debut, was acclaimed for showing a realistic view of the misery lurking beneath the façade of a picture perfect family in suburban America. The filmmakers intend for a satirical tone but there is an overall smugness at the heart of the movie that made me resent it.
The story begins with a voice over narration by Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), talking to us after he has died, to recount in flashback the events leading up to that moment. This conceit is clearly intended to invoke William Holden’s opening narration in “Sunset Blvd.” but there is nothing surprising or significant in this approach. It doesn’t lead to any major dramatic payoff but comes across as a clever stunt that just conveys how contrived and self-important the movie is.
Lester is married to Carolyn (Annette Bening) and they have a rebellious teenager daughter, Jane (Thora Birch). Lester and Carolyn argue at the dinner table and Jane feels ignored so we get scenes of the dysfunction of this family but it’s all very affected. Lester hates his job so he quits and blackmails his boss into severance pay then takes a job working at a fast food drive-thru. Are we supposed to believe this is something he would likely do? He seems to be working there for the sole purpose of catching his wife with another man, her boss Buddy (Peter Gallagher). That scene is one of many contrivances in “American Beauty” that constantly condescend to the audience. Repeatedly, we see these characters behave in circumstances that are not believable and seem to contradict earlier actions in an obvious manner.
For instance, Lester is seen fantasizing about his daughter’s cheerleader friend (Mena Suvari). He talks to her about smoking pot and she relates to him as a mature adult. We see her talking often about all the men she’s slept with but when the time comes for Lester to make his move on her, she confesses she’s a virgin. No surprise. At that moment, Lester decides to pull back and not sleep with the girl. We’re supposed to believe that all of a sudden Lester developed a conscience? Further proof that the movie is a cheat occurs when the neighbor boy’s military father (Chris Cooper), seen earlier verbally assaulting his son and making derogatory homosexual slurs, makes an unwanted sexual advance towards Lester. Get it? He’s a closeted homosexual. Ridiculous! Nothing these characters do earlier in the movie would lead us to believe the actions they take later on. It’s just a writer’s contrivance to tell us that these people may appear to be one thing but their actions say otherwise. This is handled in such melodramatic fashion that it undermines the satire.
To be fair the movie is well made. Sam Mendes is good with the actors and gets solid performances from Spacey and Bening. The late Conrad Hall won the Oscar for his cinematography, particularly brilliant in the famous fantasy sequence where Lester imagines the cheerleader in a bathtub covered by rose pastels. Chris Cooper is forced to overdo the standard sadistic military father and the usually superb Allison Janney is completely emasculated in a nothing role as the silent wife. The teenagers are so precocious that their dialogue often feels forced. The subplot of the mysterious neighbor boy, Ricky (Wes Bentley), who smokes pot and attracts Jane, includes a scene where he shows a videotape of the beauty of a plastic bag floating in midair. It is so pretentious I had to laugh.
Spacey and Mendes have been inspired by Billy Wilder’s movies. “American Beauty” shares a cynicism Wilder is known for but his movies, like “The Apartment”, had a streak of sentimentality and charm that balanced the cynicism so that we embraced the characters. Wilder’s characters acted in a way that seemed to ring true. Mendes seems more content to keep audiences at a distance because he wants to show us the misery of our alienation. Why has “American Beauty” been embraced by so many critics? Maybe because it sucks up to the liberal view of the superiority felt towards mundane small town life. Rather than recognizing the phoniness of the filmmakers’ intentions, critics seemed to be acknowledging the filmmakers own misconceptions.
What’s ironic about this review is that while it mocks American Beauty for being “pretentious” and “self-important,” it ends up coming off as very pretentious itself. In fact, the movie was, I believe, an excellently executed and insightful story of American suburbia. Needless to say I disagree with your view of this movie.
First I would like to address your observation of a contradiction in the character’s actions. I believe that this was actually a main theme in the movie, the fact that a superficial first-look will not hold true when you dig deeper. It is seen that these characters try to hide the truth, from both themselves and other characters, with a convincing mask. This is specifically apprarent with Chris Cooper’s character as the closeted military father turns himself into a homophobic parent as a way of staying in denial and coping with his homosexuality. This is a powerful theme that is seen throughout the movie, and I believe it to be both strikingly truthful and an defining aspect of the movie. Therefore, this contradiction of actions is both necessary to the movie and believable as a means of portraying the bleakness that is American suburbia contrary to what this review states.
The one thing I agree with you on is that the movie was at times a tad melodramatic, sometimes overdoing the necessary acting to get across the desired point.
All in all, ‘American Beauty’ was a spectacular film, encompassing an intense plot, a superb cast and an overall well-done show. Kevin Spacey did wonders in his lead role, luring the audience into a compelling story that makes one think in a new way. The movie served to be hilarious, solemn, depressing and uplifting all at the same time. It’s critical acclaim was well-deserved. The film also served as evidence that the age of truly “great” movies, ones that open the eyes of the viewer and truly make a difference, has not come to an end.
You write that both the critics and filmmakers have misinterpreted this movie. But are you sure that it not you who has misconceived?
I appreciate your comments as I’m always interested in seeing someone’s critique especially when it is different than mine. I stand by my statements though. I don’t see where the movie was an insightful view of American suburbia. I thought “The Ice Storm” was much better in that regard. David Lynch was more successful I feel at showing the ugly side of picture perfect Americana in “Blue Velvet” and “Twin Peaks”. He satirized picturesque suburbia and made the underbelly horrifying. There have been so many other movies on this theme that I didn’t think “American Beauty” was saying anything new. We have seen so many movies on the bleakness of suburban America that is has become almost a genre of its own and a tiresome one to me. We hardly ever get movies that show suburban America in a positive light.
As far as Chris Cooper’s homosexuality it just seemed fraudulent. You can say that he used a mask to hide his homosexuality but the homosexuals that I’ve known didn’t hide it by acting homophobic. They would hide it by not drawing attention to homosexuality. I didn’t think it was believable that the character was homosexual. It just seemed contrived and the revelation of that fact was dealt with like an afterthought.
You said that Kevin Spacey lured the audience into a story that made one think in a new way. Could you elaborate? What was the new way the movie makes us think? You can make the statement that my review is pretentious but saying that this movie opens the eyes of the viewer and makes a difference sounds like hyperbole to me. From your statements I’m not sure specifically how the movie accomplishes this.
As for my comments on critics that was directed at the fact that so many critics seem to form a consensus in praising a movie when a few colleagues do. I have several friends who are very knowledgeable about movies and work in the movie industry who had a similar response to the movie that I had. A couple of years after I saw the movie and had the response I had, I read an interview with the great, former “New Yorker” critic Pauline Kael, who said she hated “American Beauty”. I just would’ve liked to see a few critics who were willing to go against the conventional response when there are people out there with valid criticisms of the movie.
Having said all that, you loved the movie and I didn’t and we can agree to disagree.
Thanks again for your response.