American Beauty (1999)
Cast: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening,
Chris Cooper, Thora Birch, Mena Suvari, Wes Bentley
Director: Sam Mendes
How about a film, whose leading
protagonist is neither a good looking kick ass hero nor a genius whom the world
admires? Leave that, the protagonist here is not even a role model for his own
family, but is abhorred by him and is a somewhat defeated person, with no spark
left in him and in severe midlife crisis? Can such a film be both a classic and
a box office sensation?
Is it a comedy, drama, satire ,
thriller, skin flick , fantasy or a moral tale?
Maybe all of the above.
The events are narrated by the
deceased Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), who tells the story of the last year of
his life. “In less than a year, I’ll be dead. And in a way, I’m dead already”,
he begins. Whacking off in the shower is his “highlight of the day”. Outwardly
appearing as living an ideal suburban life, 42 year old Lester’s life is anything
but ideal. Stuck in a dead end advertising job for the last 15 years, he is a
literal punching bag for his materialistic and pretentious wife Carolyn
(Annette Bening), who has shunned him both emotionally and physically,
and finds no place in his introvert daughter Jane’s (Thora Birch) life,
who hates both her parents. Carolyn abhors him for his lowly prospects and Jane
thinks that he is just disgusting.
Lester is one day asked to write a
self appraisal to show his utility for the company. This makes Carolyn’s
behaviour even more insulting towards him. Suddenly, Lester’s world is turned
upside down when he sees Jane’s extrovert and flashy friend Angela (Mena
Suvari) during Jane’s cheerleading performance and instantly begins lusting
after her. Angela soon becomes aware of this and cruelly encourages him.
A new family has moves next door,
that of the retired Colonel Frank Fitts (Chris Cooper), a homophobic
disciplinarian with a traumatized wife and a psychologically disturbed son Vicky
(Wes Bentley), whose weird hobby includes filming everything. Unknown to his
family, Ricky makes a living as a marijuana seller . He becomes
infatuated with Jane and begins stalking her and filming her without her
knowledge, and she is secretly pleased that someone is attracted to her. He
soon becomes friends with Lester, who becomes his regular client. Lester’s attraction of Angela has somehow made
him a confident and outspoken person who doesn’t care about Carolyn’s opinions
anymore. He beings smoking pot and works out regularly. He even trades his
Toyota Camry for a 1970 Pontiac Firebird.
On one particular day, three
big events happen which determine the fate of the film’s characters. Lester,
fuelled by his newly acquired confident personality, quits his job after
blackmailing his company for a year’s salary with benefits (he knows about
a director availing escort service with company’s funds), and joins as an
attendant at a drive in restaurant to have a job with the least possible
responsibilities. Carolyn starts an affair with her professional rival Buddy
Kane (Peter Gallagher) . Ricky and Jane begin a relationship.
Lester finally stands upto
Carolyn for the first time in his life, when she berates him for losing
his job. He knows that all his attempts to find any place in the lives of
either his wife or daughter are useless and the least he can do is have a happy
life for himself.
Spoiler
The second half of the film covers
the last day of Lester’s life.
He and Angela flirt with each other
much to Jane’s disgust. He signals to Ricky to call him (for marijuana
delivery) as he leaves for his job which catches Frank’s eye. He decides to
investigate by searching Ricky’s room, and finds the video of a nude Lester
working out in Ricky’s camcorder (which Ricky had accidentally filmed days
earlier due to his obsession of filming Jane) and deduces that his son is a homosexual (he mistakenly has been suspecting
Lester being a homosexual as well because he has seen him jogging with a
neighbourhood gay couple). Carolyn and
Buddy drive into the same drive in restaurant where Lester works, and he
coolly serves them even after catching the two red handed. Carolyn is
severely hurt by Lester’s indifference than the fact that she has been
caught in the act. Buddy promptly breaks off the relationship, leaving Carolyn
distraught. She is shown to load her gun while driving back home.
Back home, Lester calls Ricky as his
marijuana has run out. Frank spies on them through the window and
mistakes their meeting for a sexual encounter. When Ricky returns, he beats him
up severely and demands an explanation. Ricky, already sick of his overbearing
father, lies to him that he works as a prostitute which causes Frank to throw
him out of the house. Ricky goes to Lester’s house and asks Jane to leave with
him and she readily agrees. Angela who is present there tries to discourage her
and both Ricky and Jane shout her down.
Frank visits Lester and asks him
about his wife’s whereabouts. He replies that she’s probably with her boyfriend
and he doesn’t care as his marriage is just a sham. This reply turns
Frank’s doubts into certainty. Suddenly, he kisses Lester, thereby revealing
that his homophobic personality is a mere cover for his true self. Lester pulls
him off and Frank leaves without another word.
Lester finds an upset Angela crying
on the stairs. She asks him to tell her she is beautiful. He does, and they
kiss. His dream of having the object of his desire is almost complete when
Angela reveals that she is nothing like her projected slutty image and is
actually a virgin. Lester suddenly sees her as a daughter and realizes that he
has been wrong in lusting after her. He embraces her like a child, comforts her
and the pair bond over their shared frustrations. He is pleased to know from
her that Jane is in love. Angela then excuses herself to the restroom leaving a
content Lester, whose life has now come to a full circle. He feels no remorse
but only gladness at spurning the object of his desire. He picks up a family
photograph of everyone together and gazes contently into it. A barrel of a gun
appears behind his head as the camera moves away. A shot is heard and his blood
is splattered on the wall. Ricky and Jane come down from their room and find
Lester’s body in a pool of blood.
Lester in a final voiceover says that
all his life has flashed before him at the moment of his death. (The reaction
of the each of the rest of the characters is shown, when the shot rings out. Angela
startled on hearing the gunshot, Carolyn devastated, and Frank changing his blood
splattered shirt, revealed to be the killer). His dying thoughts revolve
around his childhood memories, Carolyn and Jane. He feels no regrets and finds
it hard to be angry with what happened with him when there is so much beauty in
the world. He is grateful for every moment of his short and stupid life. He
concludes by saying that the viewers may not understand a word that he’s
saying, but someday they will.
Spoiler end
Look closer , the film’s caption
says. Everything is not what it appears to be. The Burnham’s house is full of
smiling and happy family photographs but the atmosphere in the house is
anything but that. The prosperous looking neighbourhood is eerily silent,
whether it be the sorrowful atmosphere in the Burnham household or
macabre in the Fritts one. Beneath the smiling faces, there is just
pretentiousness or insecurity. Everyone practically lives life as a lie. Spoiler
Carolyn’s fake self esteem is just a cover to hide her dissatisfaction and hate
for her job. Frank’s homophobia is a cover to hide his own homosexual
tendencies. Angela’s dirty talk and loose image is just a pathetic attempt by
her to be seen as a glam doll. Jane while projecting herself to be aloof
suffers from low self esteem and feels jealous of the extrovert Angela. The
only person content and happy in the end is Lester, inspite of his life’s
journey coming to a cruel and abrupt end. Spoiler end
The false image of of happy
suburbian middle class life in America (or anywhere else) lies shattered, and
the film serves as an attempt to state life’s meaning, as a person’s wish to
break free out of a mundane, materialistic existence , or simply that there is
more to life than material stuff or status symbols like a
particular job or social standing.
The film was the biggest hit of the
year, raking in almost 2400% ROI. Sam Mendes couldn’t have asked for a better
debut in Hollywood, with his film sweeping all the major awards, including five
Oscars, best director for him, Best Actor for Kevin Spacey and best film. His
direction is flawless, as he peels away the pompous layers of each character to
reveal their vulnerable selves. He uses symbols like rose petals to depict
Lester’s sexual fantasies of Angela or rain to show impending death. It simply
isn’t meant for family viewing, like most great films ,and also stands out for
the fact that it doesn’t patronize any character in it , trying to manipulate
the viewer into backing him or her. Everyone is right from his/her point of
view, and everyone faces the consequences of their actions. The script is great
for not giving the film a forced happy ending, in order to give the real
message of the film- Ultimate freedom
comes at an ultimate price.
Among the cast,the film belongs to Kevin Spacey. As Lester Burnham, he
has portrayed beautifully the very vulnerable and a very ordinary person prone
to weakness and temptation, but yet remains a good human being who only
wants a more dignified and fulfilling life. Whats remarkable is that the
role of Lester Burnham came to him after it was turned down by various bigger
actors of 1990s, John Travolta and Bruce Willis being among the names. Today
with his Hollywood career shattered due to sexual harassment allegation claims,
but that will never take away what he did in this role.
Annette Bening is excellent as the materialistic and superfluous
Carolyn who’s become a bot focussed on motivational tapes, expensive sofas and
sales targets, and who in fact is a much sorrier figure than Lester. Chris
Cooper is brilliant as the pathetically rigid and hypocrite Frank Fritts. Mena
Suvari, Thora Birch and Wes Bentley are good in their roles and sadly couldn’t
build on their success from this film.
There is beauty all over this film. Watch. And look
closer.
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