American Beauty

Customer reviews

• RichFeb 10, 2017

  The movie is, at one level, a satire on the American Dream with Lester Burnham playing a slightly younger modern day Willy Loman. Both are advertising men that are trapped in meaningless work and empty marriages while being emasculated by their families. In both situations their deaths are not so much tragic as they are inevitable. But this isn't "Death of a Salesman II", it is "American Beauty", it's tag line of "look closely" foreshadows the difference.At first, it might seem like Alan Ball started and ended with Lester Burnham as a pot-smoking Willy Loman. But Arthur Miller's doomed salesman protagonist was on the opposite trajectory of Ball's hero, Lester. Kevin Spacey brilliantly plays a man that is completely involved in his own fantasy of life. Both the explicit dream of bedding the young Angela Hayes and the implied fantasy of his own success. But the difference is that Lester becomes the anti-Willy Loman when he makes the decision to pursue his dream. As Loman's fantasies served to separate him from reality and his life became even more tragic, Lester changes himself and really discovers his own meaning. When he finally achieves his fantasy, it is through his rejection of his old life. He ultimately recognizes that his fantasy is not what he needs and he finds his peace not in fulfilling his dream but in surrendering it. Willy Loman's character ridicules empty materialism by endlessly perusing it leading to his death as a shattered man. Lester Burnham rejects superficiality and that is his path to redemption. In his own words, he "wants to look good naked!"Both movies are titles are inspired by story of the leading characters. Willy Loman's story is the Death of a Salesman just as Lester Burnham becomes an American Beauty.Other characters play their own parts in the tragic irony. The most blatant is Angela Hayes, the virgin slut who declares that "I don't think there's anything worse than being ordinary" and yet ruthlessly pursues being normal. Colonel Frank Fitts, the control addict that has lost all control and hates himself. Carolyn Burnham, the empty shell of a human that measures success by how successful you look. She can turn the cement hole of a pool into a "lagoon" with some tiki torches. Each of them are angry and lost.But the most interesting supporting character is Ricky Fritts. He is a conundrum of young wisdom and dispassionate separation. At one point, he is Lester's role model when he quits his job and he seems to understand and capture the world around him. But on a second look, he is an observer of life with a room full of video tapes and soul empty of experience. "Video is a poor excuse, I know. But it helps me to remember." Ricky's lack of involvement in life makes it hard to remember. He doesn't experience, he just sees.Ricky is fascinated by the image of an empty plastic bag blowing aimlessly in the wind because it is like his soul. His phony introspection is a warning against giving in to purposelessness. The real truth is that Ricky's soul is just as empty as Carolyn's.This movie is an absolute must see! You will rarely see such intelligent dialog so brilliantly cast and executed in a brilliant story that can make you look at your own values.

• clarence a connelly, jr.Aug 5, 2013

  The film "American Beauty" is great and a true example of the Black Comedy. Kevin Spacey is awesome in the lead role and Annette Bening is his equal. This movie rates as among the best work that either of them has ever done. Kevin Spacey's character is a man who is disenchanted with every aspect of his life including his marriage and his job. He is middle aged and decides toleave his job in advertising and takes a job in a fast food joint. He also developes a serious crush on one of the girlfriends of his teenage daughter and really embarrasses his daughter by recklessly pursuing this girl. She attempts to be worldly but it turns out that she is a virgin who pretends to have sexual experience. In addition, the girl teases her friend about seducing the young lady's father. Meanwhile, his daughter falls for the boy next door who is her age and is a voyeur who takes pictures of Spacey's daughter from his bedroom window. When she realizes that she is being photographed, she decides to partially disrobe to excite the neighbor. The young man also reintroduces the Spacey character to drugs. Mostly marijuana. The father of this boy is constantly spying on his son who in the past has done drugs. The father makes the boy give a urine sample and also locks certain parts of the house to indicate that they are off limits to the boy.The Kevin Spacey character also begins a serious exercise regimen in order to assist him in enticing his daughter's friend. One aspect of the exercise regimine is that Spacey begins to work out with some men who are openly gay and this allows the boy's father to speculate that Spacey's character is gay as well.Suffice it to say, the daughter and wife are seriously unhappy with him and the wife embarks on an affair with a fellow real estate salesman who is much more successful in the industry than she is. The two adulterers are caught when they drive up to the fast food restaurant where Kevin Spacey character works.The film ends in a tragic way when the teenage boy's father believes that his son is in a homosexual relationship with Kevin Spacey. The father beats the boy and orders him out of the home and the two teenagers plan to runaway to NYC together. Kevin Spacey's character attempts to have sex with the friend of his daughter but upon finding out that she has no previous sexual experience, he loses his desire for her.Kevin Spacey's character is murdered. He is shot in the back of the head but it is not exactly clear who shot him. It could be his wife or the father of the boy next door.I think that this film is magnificent and has a great cast, good direction, pace and some very comedic moments. I would suggest that people will be watching this movie years from now.