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American Beauty, 1999
Lester (Kevin Spacey) is in the throes of a midlife crisis, living with a wife named Carolyn (Annette Bening) who is materialistic and frustrated in her own job as a real estate agent. Their teenage daughter, Jane (Thora Birch), is also miserable--miserable with her body and miserable with her parents' endless sniping. But things shift dramatically when Lester becomes sexually fixated on Jane's friend Angela (Mena Suvari) and Jane becomes involved with a boy named Ricky (Wes Bentley) who just moved in next door.
I know that this movie is generally well regarded. Ehhhh . . .
For the entire runtime this film felt fractured--I was able to see it as a collection of parts, but it never totally cohered for me as a single entity.
My favorite aspect was the visual elements. I was very into the bold use of color, and specifically the repeated scheme of red bursts against white backgrounds. There were many stunning shots, including one of the house's red door in a rainstorm that I thought was really breathtaking. Overall I liked the direction.
Performance-wise, the film is really strong in a certain sense. These days I really struggle to immerse myself in films where every actor on screen is a big-name actor. Heck, even one of the no-dialogue bit parts was played by someone who is high profile (Jon Cho as a potential house buyer). Everyone is good in their roles, though really this is the Kevin Spacey Show. Get ready to clutch your pearls, my separate-the-art-from-the-artist friends, but knowing that Spacey engaged in sexually predatory behavior in real life made it less than fun to watch the camera lovingly document his every little quirk as his character engaged in sexually predatory behavior. At times was he really funny? Yes. But this is a movie full of capital-P Performances, something I find a bit exhausting at the best of times.
Ultimately, though, I did not care for the writing. The worst was the writing of the two teenage girls. How do you know that a middle-aged man is writing the dialogue for teen girls? Oh, I don't know. Maybe by having them reference Christy Turlington? Birch and Suvari were good in their roles, but my God did I cringe every time they had a conversation.
I also take issue with the last act for several reasons.
First
Finally, I really hated the arc with Ricky's character. His stalking of Jane is romanticized and it's gross. Ricky is repeatedly positioned as the voice of reason and I don't even have words for how dumb I find that.
The comedy stuff worked for me, generally speaking, but the drama side of things was a hot--and occasionally offensive--mess. I'm still mulling over my feelings about the way that the film seemingly parodies the obsession with teenage girls and indulges in that obsession with the way that it portrays the body of its two young women leads.
American Beauty, 1999
Lester (Kevin Spacey) is in the throes of a midlife crisis, living with a wife named Carolyn (Annette Bening) who is materialistic and frustrated in her own job as a real estate agent. Their teenage daughter, Jane (Thora Birch), is also miserable--miserable with her body and miserable with her parents' endless sniping. But things shift dramatically when Lester becomes sexually fixated on Jane's friend Angela (Mena Suvari) and Jane becomes involved with a boy named Ricky (Wes Bentley) who just moved in next door.
I know that this movie is generally well regarded. Ehhhh . . .
For the entire runtime this film felt fractured--I was able to see it as a collection of parts, but it never totally cohered for me as a single entity.
My favorite aspect was the visual elements. I was very into the bold use of color, and specifically the repeated scheme of red bursts against white backgrounds. There were many stunning shots, including one of the house's red door in a rainstorm that I thought was really breathtaking. Overall I liked the direction.
Performance-wise, the film is really strong in a certain sense. These days I really struggle to immerse myself in films where every actor on screen is a big-name actor. Heck, even one of the no-dialogue bit parts was played by someone who is high profile (Jon Cho as a potential house buyer). Everyone is good in their roles, though really this is the Kevin Spacey Show. Get ready to clutch your pearls, my separate-the-art-from-the-artist friends, but knowing that Spacey engaged in sexually predatory behavior in real life made it less than fun to watch the camera lovingly document his every little quirk as his character engaged in sexually predatory behavior. At times was he really funny? Yes. But this is a movie full of capital-P Performances, something I find a bit exhausting at the best of times.
Ultimately, though, I did not care for the writing. The worst was the writing of the two teenage girls. How do you know that a middle-aged man is writing the dialogue for teen girls? Oh, I don't know. Maybe by having them reference Christy Turlington? Birch and Suvari were good in their roles, but my God did I cringe every time they had a conversation.
I also take issue with the last act for several reasons.
First
WARNING: spoilers below
I'm sorry, but Lester's last minute change of heart about Angela? I didn't buy it for a second. He goes from making out with her to wrapping her in a blanket (gag) and making her a meal (double gag)? It feels incredibly unearned and honestly gives the sense that the film is trying to pull a last minute redemption for a man who has been emotionally and borderline physically abusive to his wife and child.
Second, the reveal that Ricky's dad is gay (or bi-curious or whatever)? I know that some people love the line that homophobes are secretly gay. This view, in an of itself, is homophobic. It posits that the persecution and violence towards gay people is done . . . by gay people. This is exacerbated by the fact that Ricky's dad kills Lester seemingly not because his middle-aged neighbor was having sexual relations with his teenage son, but because he rejected him sexually.
Second, the reveal that Ricky's dad is gay (or bi-curious or whatever)? I know that some people love the line that homophobes are secretly gay. This view, in an of itself, is homophobic. It posits that the persecution and violence towards gay people is done . . . by gay people. This is exacerbated by the fact that Ricky's dad kills Lester seemingly not because his middle-aged neighbor was having sexual relations with his teenage son, but because he rejected him sexually.
Finally, I really hated the arc with Ricky's character. His stalking of Jane is romanticized and it's gross. Ricky is repeatedly positioned as the voice of reason and I don't even have words for how dumb I find that.
The comedy stuff worked for me, generally speaking, but the drama side of things was a hot--and occasionally offensive--mess. I'm still mulling over my feelings about the way that the film seemingly parodies the obsession with teenage girls and indulges in that obsession with the way that it portrays the body of its two young women leads.