Lester Burnham hates his life. He hates his mediocre job and the corporate brown-nosing it involves, he hates the fact that his wife and daughter think he's a total loser, and he's none too impressed with the inevitability of middle age decline either. But rather than having a mid-life crisis, Lester instead opts for a much more positive approach - a sort of mid-life rebirth. To some extent, his newly rediscovered youthful vigour is triggered by the resurgent lust he feels for his daughter's teenage friend, Angela.
Suddenly it's time for radical life change; he quits his job - an occupation which apparently involves "jacking off to a fantasy life that doesn't quite so closely resemble hell", befriends the weird teenage loner next door, starts smoking copious amounts of extremely potent weed and begins a fitness programme that will make him "look good naked".
It's almost impossible to categorise this film, as it encapsulates so many themes and dramatic conventions. Kevin Spacey's narration immediately signifies that his character is deceased - so there's the who-done-it? element. It's extremely funny in parts, but in no way could it be described as a comedy. It's a romance of sorts, where love and relationships are at first satirised and dissected, but ultimately idealised. And to call it melodrama is oversimplifying matters, ignoring the depth of social commentary and indeed the whole promotion of a philosophical discussion on the meaning of life and perhaps more significantly, death.
Spacey has misfired in a couple of questionable roles recently, principally 'The Negotiator' and to a lesser extent 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil', but his Oscar winning turn as a latter day Willy Loman sees a successful return to the kind of form usually associated with 'The Usual Suspects' and 'Seven' star. Annette Bening is in career best mode as Carolyn, the most frighteningly neurotic female lead since Liz Taylor's Martha in 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf', and the newcomers Wes Bentley as Ricky, Mena Suvari as Angela and perhaps the biggest revelation of all - Thora Birch as Jane - all hold there own in an excellent ensemble cast. In fact this movie succeeds in interweaving a series of slice-of-life plotlines to better effect than Paul Anderson's plodding 'Magnolia' or even the benchmark by which all multi-layered American dramas are judged, Altman's 'Shortcuts'. The reason this structure works so effectively is that it doesn't insult the audience's intelligence by employing scenarios that entirely rely on coincidence, alternatively using a more realistic narrative approach.
The movie has a feel of 'Peyton Place' gone awry, or a 'Blue Velvet' minus the Lynch-esque surrealism. It's a tribute to the faith invested in debutante Sam Mendes directorial skills that this thought provoking masterpiece was handled with such understated flair and sincerity. Mind you, he did have all the experience that years spent as a theatre director brings and award-winning Conrad Hall as his cinematographer, and along with Thomas Newman's poignant score, this combination dictates the whole atmosphere.
Any film which leaves the viewer pondering its ramifications for days after they've left the cinema, can only be regarded as essential viewing.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2007 - Drama - Director: Mike Binder - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Adam Sandler, Don Cheadle, Jada Pinkett, Liv Tyler, Saffron Burrows, Donald Sutherland, Mike Binder
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Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Good review, I still havent seen the film yet! :oD
Bigbaz 26.03.2002 20:43
Sounds good to me ..Baz
nicolap 26.03.2002 18:09
Good op. Looking at your profile, you seem to be a man who knows his films, so I won't argue... I think I've seen this one, but my memory of it is very faint indeed... Nic. :)
From its first gliding aerial shot of a generic suburban street,American Beautymoves with ... more
a mesmerising confidence and acuity epitomised by Kevin Spacey's calm narration. Spacey is Lester Burnham, a harried Everyman whose midlife awakening is the spine...
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Look closer at the most talked about film of the year. A funny, moving and shocking ... more
journey through life in suburban America.Look closer at fortysomething ad man Lester Burnham and his status-seeking wife, Carolyn, as their marriage and lives slowly un...
From its first gliding aerial shot of a generic suburban street,American Beautymoves with ... more
a mesmerising confidence and acuity epitomised by Kevin Spacey's calm narration. Spacey is Lester Burnham, a harried Everyman whose midlife awakening is the spine...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Marking the feature film directorial debut of award-winning theatre director Sam Mendes ... more
this funny moving and shocking journey through life in suburban America follows the trials and tribulations of Lester (Kevin Spacey) and Carolyn (Annette Bening) ...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
![American Beauty [DVD] [2000]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78526734.jpg "American Beauty [DVD] [2000]")
Mar 26th, 2002
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