American Beauty - Review

“Sometimes, there's so much beauty in the world – I feel like I can't take it, like my heart is just going to cave in.” – A review of American Beauty. 

Written by Alan Ball and directed by Sam Mendes, American Beauty is a thought-provoking drama released in 1999. Starring Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening and Thora Birch, it received five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, but its legacy is troubled; is American Beauty still a beloved film decades on?

The film follows Lester Burnham (Spacey), a suburban dad going through a midlife crisis. Bored with his job and stagnant marriage to his wife Carolyn (Bening), Lester becomes interested with his teenage daughter’s friend, Angela (Mena Suvari). The film exposes the lies of perfect suburban life, as the dysfunctional nature of family and success is uncovered.

The film explores themes such as happiness, identity, freedom and sexuality, often using dark humour to do so. It asks the question – is material success enough to bring joy? What does it really take to be happy, and why do we not feel happy when we seemingly have everything we want? The idea of beauty runs through the plot, as the viewer is asked to look beyond appearances and see what’s really happening.

Something to note is the repeated use of the colour red. It serves as a symbol for both danger and desire, especially the recurring appearance of rose petals. This is just one example of what the direction and cinematography is like though: surrealism and realism blends in an attempt to reinforce the themes.

With all that said, I have major issues with American Beauty. It’s very much “of its time” and it hasn’t aged well. Aside from the reputation of its star, I can’t get away from the fact that this is a film about a middle-aged man lusting over a teenage girl and somehow still being granted redemption. He wallows in self-pity and indulges in some truly gross instincts, and honestly American Beauty encapsulated all the worst Hollywood tendencies in one film – gay panic and predatory behaviour included.

Whilst I’m sure there are still people who adore American Beauty, it’s certainly not one of my favourites. I don’t hate it either; I have to admit that it was a real landmark on modern cinema, and it did strike a chord with wide audiences, so it can’t be all bad. I do, however, find it pretentious, and I don’t think the writing is as deep and thought provoking as it was intended to be – if anything, I find it to be quite pretentious. With that being said, if you’re interested in films that challenge societal norms, maybe American Beauty is for you.

Written by Tam Page

Posted by Mr. Tomney

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