Classic Movie Review: American Beauty (1999)

"Look Closer" - The tag line for Sam Mendes' directorial debut American Beauty, is a perfect descriptor for a film that gazes beyond the materialism of American suburbia, to present a portrait of love, confusion, obsession, voyeurism and a cynical man that will have you in stitches on every viewing.

 Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is a middle-aged, middle-class American, sedated by the state of his life. He describes his morning masturbatory session as the highlight of his day, "It's all downhill from here". Lester's wife, Carolyn (Annette Bening) is an ambitious real-estate agent who seems to have little time for Lester, or their daughter Jane (Thora Birch), a self-conscious teenager who distances herself from her parents.  

 One evening, at a high school basketball game, Jane and her friend Angela (Mena Suvari), a self-obsessed girl, driven by popularity, participate in a cheer-leading routine. Lester, who's in the audience, suddenly becomes fixated on Angela, fantasizing about a sexual encounter with her. Lester's crush on Angela rejuvenates his drive, and sees him quit his job, get fit, and trade his Toyota Camry for his favorite sports car. A new family moves in next to the Burnham household, a disciplinarian, Colonel Fitts (Chris Cooper) with a subdued son, Ricky (Wes Bentley). Ricky takes an interest in Jane, filming her in a perverse manner, though this is perhaps the first time that anybody has taken an interest in Jane.

Like another film of its era, David Fincher's Fight Club, American Beauty is pessimistic about the effects of consumerism and the emasculation of men in such a society, but instead of presenting this viewpoint through an obsessively dark world, Mendes creates an overly-bright neighborhood, almost like a model-town in its repetitive, flawless construction. The Burnham family house is white with shades of blue and red, a recurring colour palette in the film. The petals that fall in Lester's fantasies are as impeccably red as Carolyn's "eggshells and Miracle Gro" roses. Lester remarks in his opening monologue about how the handles of his wife's pruning shears perfectly match her gardening clogs. "That's not an accident". He's a man trapped in a clichéd suburbia and suppressed by his shallow yet ambitious wife. The brand of dark humour that inhabits Lester's dialogue is a crucial, binding element that runs through the film. Without the snide comments that Lester jovially commentates to the audience, the film would lose its central personality, something which is specifically lacking in Lester's world.

American Beauty is the first of two collaborations between Mendes and prolific cinematographer Conrad Hall (the other being Road to Perdition), both films have similar artistic concerns, but they function best here, in a script full of personal fantasies and stylised realities. Hall utilises fluid camera movements, with extreme closeups and clever angles to bring Lester’s feelings of suppression to the forefront. The fantasy scenes are composed of bright, often angelic lighting and repetitive cuts, all of which form the unique style of Hall’s composition. The  film is accompanied by a memorable and very percussive score by Thomas Newman, another frequent collaborator of Mendes. The framing denotes Mendes’ theatre background, with long static shots, such as the ones at the Burnham’s dinner table, used to create distance between the characters. Mendes also put the actors through weeks of practice (typical of the theatre), which helped them to bond with each other and their characters.

Kevin Spacey is the core reason that I love this film. His portrayal of Lester's transformation from docile to driven is among the best on-screen rebirths, and his asides never fail to amuse me. Annette Benning takes an almost unlikable character and manages to draw a huge amount of empathy from the audience. You genuinely feel sorry for her by the end, for many different reasons. Birch provides a very mature performance for her age and forms Jane into a difficult-to-read but complex person. All the other supporting roles are very good, especially Allison Janney, who conveys the tragic nature of Barbara in the few words that she utters.

Whenever I discuss American Beauty with someone, it tends to be a polarised conversation. This seems to be a movie that you either love or you hate. It could certainly be argued that it's too steeped in its own symbolism, that it metaphorises everything to death. But its denouncement of a consumerist society through what is, in many ways, a lighthearted and almost mocking style, has always been endearing to me. The tongue in cheek humour, unique look, memorable characters and fantastic delivery from Spacey has left American Beauty perched atop my favourite movies for many years now, and it’ll take a lot to dethrone it.