Multiple Viewings: American Beauty (1999)

American Beauty

During the 90's there were some very good performances that just completely dominated the silver screen. From Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood to William H. Macy as Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo, there has been some very well accomplished characters portrayed fantastically. But there is one performance at the tail end of the 90's that closes out that decade with an exclamation mark; Kevin Spacey in American Beauty.

American Beauty is a very rare dark comedy in that it invites us to laugh at horrible situations that occur to a dull, suburban family as they struggle with their odd lives eventually leading up to tragedy. At the nucleus of this movie is Kevin Spacey's character of Lester Burnham, who ushers in eccentric scenarios as he goes through a mid life crisis. His character is then polarized and amplified by other characters in the film; his wife (Annette Bening) and his next door neighbor (Chris Cooper) who both are fake, insecure people trying to appear "beautiful" only to be found hiding their ugly inner nature.

This movie begs the question of "Just what exactly is beauty? And can it be taken at face value, or must it be investigated?" This very question is hinted at with the films tagline of "Look Closer...". Every single character in this movie has either insecurities or "act" a certain way to either get people to like them or be portrayed as normal.

After seeing this movie three times, all at different stages in my life, I have found this to be one of my favorite Best Picture Oscar winners of all time. What really changes with this movie during different viewings is the mood. The first time I saw American Beauty it came off a lot more as a dark comedy, with the dramatic irony and "dead air comedy" scenarios coming to the forefront of the picture. Upon my second viewing I was more engaged to recognize the tragic flaws exposed by each character. And by my third viewing I was more compelled to treat this film as a Shakespearean comedy of sorts, with its heavy use of literary devices.

Each character is very well fleshed out. Their flaws are brought to the forefront of the audiences minds. Which really amplifies the reality of the film. They're complex characters with real issues. We don't have to look too close to see that the "beautiful people" portrayed here are very flawed.

The script, direction, and acting are all brilliantly executed in this film and can only be appreciated  through multiple viewings. So if you were to see it, make room for seeing it a couple more times because one helping is not enough.