# American Beauty (1999)

### reviewed by
Christian Pyle

    American Beauty
    Reviewed by Christian Pyle
    Directed by Sam Mendes
    Written by Alan Ball
    Starring Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, and Mena
    Suvari
    Grade: A

Midway through "American Beauty" teenage filmmaker/pot dealer Ricky Fitts (Wes Bentley) shows his girlfriend Jane Burnham (Thora Birch) a plate that Ricky's father (Chris Cooper) keeps in a locked display case. The plate is plain white with gold trim; it is visibly old and elegant in its simplicity. Jane turns the plate over to find a swastika stamped in black. Ricky explains, "It's like official state china of the Third Reich." The plate is a potent symbol for the mission of the film: to reveal the hidden depravity beneath the simple elegance of American suburban conformity.

To the casual observer, the Burnhams seem perfect. Lester (Kevin Spacey) writes for a marketing magazine. Carolyn (Annette Bening) sells real estate and devotes her spare time to her rosebushes. Their daughter Jane is a cheerleader. However, under the facade the cracks run deep, and everything is about to split wide open. Lester's boss has hired an efficiency expert (Barry Del Sherman) to ax several workers. Despite the fact that Carolyn's business is overshadowed by that of Buddy Kane the Real Estate King (Peter Gallagher), she lords her relative success over Lester's head and denies him sex or affection.

Just as life looks its bleakest, Lester finds a strange salvation in Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari), a teenage friend of Jane's. Watching Angela perform as a cheerleader, Lester has a surreal epiphany that launches him on a mid-life crisis. Before long, he quits his job in favor of working at a fast food restaurant, buys a sportscar, buys weed from Ricky, and starts working out in the garage. Everytime Angela comes over, he fawns over her like a lovesick kid, disgusting his daughter and raising an intense jealousy in her. Meanwhile Carolyn begins having an affair with Buddy and takes up target shooting.

The Burnhams are contrasted with their new neighbors, the Fitts. Ricky is an unusual young man obsessed with filming Beauty, an obsession that draws him to Jane. His father is a stern Marine Corps colonel given to fits of violence, and his mother Barbara (Allison Janney of TV's "The West Wing") seems to have been beaten into submission. As dysfunctional as the Burnhams are, they're not as bad as the Fitts.

Ricky becomes as important a character as Lester. Although young, Ricky has figured out what Lester learns in the movie. Speaking of his most treasured video, a plastic bag dancing in the wind, Ricky says this moment taught him that "there was this entire life behind things and this incredibly benevolent force that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid, ever." Thus, the title "American Beauty" is not as ironic as it may at first appear. Lester's vision of Angela as Aphrodite amid streams of rose petals is his equivalent of the dancing bag, but he's confused by his lust and sexual frustration for most of the movie. Beneath the satire, "American Beauty" is about the life-giving quest for beauty.

American Beauty marks the debut of both director Sam Mendes and screenwriter Alan Ball. Look for both to contribute great things in the future. Ball's script is easily the best of 1999 and richly deserves its inevitable Oscar.

The performances are excellent all around. Since Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening have already gotten their share of critical acclaim and award nominations, I'd like to single out the always underrated Chris Cooper. His character, Col. Fitts, is an especially challenging character who has to go through a complex transformation, and Cooper does an excellent job. (Video recommendation: If you can find it, check out Cooper in "Pharaoh's Army," an indie about the Civil War.)

    Bottom line:  Beautiful

    © 2000 Christian L. Pyle

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