Now I didn’t know much about this AMERICAN BEAUTY movie. Didn’t know much at all.
I had retained the knowledge that it was a Kevin Spacey film, but that was about it. I had written a piece about how you folks could score free tickets to the movie if you lived in one of about 50 towns, and ya know... I’m proud as can be that I pointed those of you that are scoring tickets to this movie, to this movie.
You see, this is one of those impossible films to market. You have a film that if you were to boil it down to the basic plot elements would be about a middle age man wanting to fuck a high school cheerleader, a film that has a pot-dealing teen as a hero, a film about dissatisfaction with normalcy. A film with severe gay bashing. And sort of encourages teen runaways.
Not something you can really sell. But then, those are just the surface levels of this incredibly complex story that really... at it’s core... is about the beauty of life around us.
Through all the ugly places it takes us, we come back to something beautiful.... living your life.
At the start of this film every character is simply going about the motions of life.
Go to work, go to school, start supper, eat supper, watch television and go to sleep. Everyone is bored with their lives and is asleep... but slowly they each begin to wake up. Open their eyes, and see the simple beauty of living their lives.
Now... it’s not a feel good film strange enough. It isn’t a movie that makes you comfortable. Instead, it’s a movie that right up front has Kevin Spacey telling you that this is his town where he lived his miserable little life, and that’s the miserable little street he lived on, and this is the last year of his life.
Point blank they tell you LESTER IS GOING TO DIE.
Lester is going to die in this film. And at the beginning of this movie, ya know... That might not be a bad thing. But over the length of this movie his character wakes up, becomes alive. Thrilled with living, high on life and many other things. But... we know he’s going to die. He told us so... at the very start of the film.
It’s not a spoiler. It is the initial plug of the film. You know this fact 3 minutes in. It would sort of be like telling you that Glenn Close is in a coma in Reversal of Fortune.
As a result, the entire time you see this soul reborn, you know it is in it’s twilight hours of existence. It’s the classic suspense device that Alfred Hitchcock illustrated with two people sitting at a picnic table. We can see the bomb ticking away underneath the table, but they don’t know. They talk, they laugh, they live not knowing death awaits them... just under the table.
As a result the movie is a strong force for expressing just how dear and precious life is. How we have to make the most out of it. That we shouldn’t hold back just for the ‘twilight’ years and play it safe. Today might be the last day of your life. Find something you love to do. If you can afford it, get that thing you’ve always wanted. Make love with the person you love. Don’t drone on another day.
In a way this is a look at the exact same issues of BRAZIL. There was a girl, a dream girl... An ideal, something that one wants. And as an excuse he uses her to break out of the doldrum like existence he had pigeon-holed himself into.
In a way you can draw parallels to Bill Murray’s character in RUSHMORE or Matthew Broderick in ELECTION... but... Watching what Kevin Spacey does in the role... well.. Remember when you thought masturbation was just the best thing in the world? Remember when you had your first bout of good sex? Well... for me, Murray and Broderick are the clenched fist, and Kevin Spacey is the best piece of ass in town. His character of Lester is quite simply a work of brilliance. And this is easily the best performance I’ve seen thus far this year.
However, Kevin Spacey is not the only fantastic performance in this movie. Annette Bening is... Well, this is my favorite character I’ve seen her play thus far. Her
Caroline is a modern empowered woman, and her portrayal is... scary. She has become the property of her possessions and the slave of her own expectations. There is an utterly heartbreaking scene between her and Spacey towards the end on a sofa that... Well, it’s the saddest look at a dysfunctional marriage I think I have ever seen. Then her day trying to sell a house... Well, the frustration and aggravation. The continual self-affirmation. The way she psyches herself up. Her breakdown. This character is so completely realized and different from anything I’ve seen Annette do that I was heartbroken by what had become of what we know was a once vibrant and living woman.
Their daughter played by Thora Birch... Well, she is... and I know I sound redundant, but this really is a great movie... wonderful in a role that reminded me of the best work I’ve seen from Christina Ricci. I’m used to her being Harrison Ford’s cute little daughter. When the heck did she grow up, God I guess I’m getting a bit older. She’s disillusioned, continually brow-beaten and has the self-esteem of a potato under the sink. She feels ugly and awkward. She has reached that point where she needs someone to see her as being beautiful because...