1999--American Beauty, Sam Mendes

1999--American Beauty, Sam Mendes

Nominated: The Cider House Rules, The Green Mile, The Insider, The Sixth Sense

Should have won: The Sixth Sense

Be sure to see: Audition, The Blair Witch Project, Sleepy Hollow, Toy Story 2

“Remember those posters that said 'Today is the first day of the rest of your life'? Well that's true of every day but one: The day you die.”-Lester Burnham

     On the surface, American Beauty seems to be about a man going through a mid-life crisis. But seeing how Lester Burnham handles his situations, I think he has too positive an attitude to consider it a crisis. Not to say he is happy, but he seems to find the positive in things around him. Lester hates his job. His wife, Carolyn, is a real estate agent. Their daughter, Jane, is a cheerleader with self esteem issues and hangs out with Angela, a fellow cheerleader. When Lester sees Angela, he becomes infatuated with her and begins imagining her nude and bathed in rose petals. His obsession with Angela becomes obvious to Jane, who is disgusted and to Angela, who is not. Next door is a mysterious family. A hard, abusive military father, a mother who is there physically but is emotionally detached, and a son, Ricky, the most curious character in the movie. He spends his time videotaping ordinary life events. A dead bird. A bag blowing in the wind. And Jane. Interestingly, he is infatuated with Jane but in a different way Lester is with Angela.

     Each character in the film has a distinct identity and plays a key role,even Ricky's mother who doesn't do or say much but I think that is her point; she might live in fear of her husband. But the movie belongs to Lester. How can he cope with getting older? He can quit his job and apply for a fast food position (he wants the least amount of responsibility) and buy a classic car because, well, he has always wanted to. Carolyn goes through issues of her own and copes with them in her own way, having an affair with a fellow real estate agent. The point Lester discovers this is a high point in the film. It is a funny scene but a line Lester delivers at the end has such a striking truth to it and the humor of Lester's initial line mixed with his ultimate attitude about the situation offer a strange mood to the scene. 

     At around 1:35 in or so the movie's mood turns a bit. The pace begins a slow burn and situations mount up. Ricky and his father; Jane and Angela; Ricky and Jane; Lester and Ricky's father; Lester and Angela. It builds up to a very interesting ending. I suppose there are many words to describe it but "interesting" seems to fit. I liked the movie a lot because when it is over, I can think about how all six of the major characters were unique and, well, interesting.

     This movie was originally written to be a play and I think it could work. Every characters is so distinct, if you landed a role you would have to be happy with whoever you got. I was particularly interested in Allison Janney's portrayal of the detached wife next door because in the other things I've seen her (Juno, The Help, the show Mom, etc.) she is always outspoken and energetic. Here she plays her role quietly, somberly, and a bit depressingly. 

     The movie is Sam Mendes' film debut. He would go on to direct some pretty solid films in Road to Perdition and Jarhead. He I read he used Sunset Boulevard, The Apartment, and Ordinary People as inspiration. Critic Roger Ebert said American Beauty is the best film debut for a director since Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe? It is quite a technical achievement for a first-timer. I have always been partial to Boyz n the Hood myself, as far as directorial debuts go.  My guess is it won over The Sixth Sense because it had a strong leading man and because of the triple H factor: Hollywood Hates Horror. But maybe not totally. It was certainly worthy of the award. And Kevin Spacey is spectacular as always. 

--Note: American Beauty won the Oscar for best original screenplay. In a sense, it was a loose adaptation of Lolita. That might seem like kind of a stretch but remember Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? was up for adapted screenplay from The Odyssey. That's also a pretty loose adaptation, don't you think?