25 years ago, Sam Mendes took a screenplay from Alan Ball, and directed a simple film about peeling off the shine of suburbia. This went on to win a bunch of Oscars, including Best Picture, forever cementing itself in film history. But in the 25 years since, it has suffered from the passage of time. Some feel like it feels just too 1999. is this really middle class suburbia? Do mom and dad actually earn enough for this lifestyle? Is this just a modern Lolita, or a response to the reflective teen nightmare that was Columbine? Is this an early look at at teen anxiety, as seen through Thor’s birch’s or Mena Suvari’s unique experiences of what it means to be a teenage girl? Is it a film about yearning to repeat your youth, when you feel like you are no longer recognizable to the person you once were? From what’s happening in your neighbor’s house, to a look at how a marriage falls apart, American beauty is all of those things. It is what you need it to be, and how you perceive it. It has so many layers, son many different shades that have only been revealed as 25 years pass, and we get to fully analyze a film like this. But, what it certainly is, is still one of my favorite films.
For a few years, American Beauty was one of the films I would circulate in my list of “favorite films” I would mention when asked that question. I’ve also used The American President, Mr Holland’s Opus, Toy Story, Memento, The Dark Knight, Wall-E, but now I almost exclusively land on Jurassic Park. I think it represents so much of why I like film, and that beginning of my transition from just kids films to adult films. But plenty of people have been told through the years that this is my favorite film, and despite Kevin Spacey, I am not ashamed.
Every single performance slaps (as the kids say). Spacey is so droll and boring in the beginning as Lester Burnham, that when he finally comes alive, the concept of his newfound freedom is unsettling because it is inspired by his desire to be desired by his daughters best friend. Annette Bening is so into this role. she feels like someone who is living this persistently presentational lifestyle, and the very epitome of someone who is worried about the red wine stain on the couch, and needs to find sex with a near stranger because it allows her to not have those trappings assigned to her. Thora Birch is so embarrassed by both her parents, though both of them think she only hates the other one. her friend, played by Mena Suvari, is deeply vapid and uses Birch, but is only later to be revealed as someone desperate to be liked. She’s an influencer before there ever was social media. Wes Bentley is arts for arts sake, freedom centric, and destined to live his own life as he’s trapped in this destroyed family dynamic with a catatonic Allison Janney and a disturbed Chris Cooper.
I love the score. i love The look of the film, and how Mendes uses such vibrant colors. The reds in this film are so very red, as they represent the red of a rose. The dialog remains quotable, even if you cringe at the over-quoted nature of some of the lines. But, while someone may laugh at the 1999 line about “the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen’, other 1999 lines like “I see dead people” and “The first rule of Fight Club…” are still widely quoted, unironically.
American Beauty, to me, is perfect. While I know they’ve had readings with other actors, to celebrate the script, there are people here that I feel like can’t really be replaced. I feel like I could find another Lester burnham, but I wouldn’t replace Bening. While I think Hilary Swank’s movie Boys Don’t Cry is devastating, the performance by Bening feels like perfect casting.
So many stories about American Beauty, including all these different scenes that were once in the movie, alternate endings, and Mendes even trying to go after this more as a straight comedy. but, they did find the best possible version of the film. I remember living in my small town in Missouri and seeing this when it expanded to my market, and no one was in the theater. Opening weekend, and i was all alone. I could have never predicted that this film no one else in my area was interested in would go on to win the Oscar. But it did. And 25 years later, watching this with audio description, is just a great experience.
It’s on Paramount Plus. check it out.
Final Grade: A+
