AMERICAN BEAUTY R
Starring Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Mena Suvari, Wes Bentley, Thora Birch, Chris Cooper, Scott Bakula
Eric says: ********** (10)
Every now and then, everything comes together - acting, writing, directing. American Beauty is one of those instances. Kevin Spacey (in my book, America's best actor) is everyman Lester Burnham in a nice upper middle class neighborhood with an attractive, successful wife (Annette Bening), steady job, intelligent daughter (Thora Birch), nice house. A very comfortable life. Too comfortable for Lester. Even though the ending is foreshadowed early on, this drama makes me want to see exactly how all the characters end up where they do. Lester's breaking out of his downward spiral towards comatose complacency acts as a catalyst that shakes every other character and challenges their perceptions of themselves and where they fit in it all. Wes Bentley is impressive as Ricky Fitz, the other main catalyst who manages to affect a handful of lives himself.
While "The 'Burbs" showed in a playful way about the perversity of "normal" neighborhoods, "American Beauty" enters the individual homes to shove a mirror in our faces. Every actor was up to the challenge of taking a normal family turned inside out to expose the raw nerves of the basest human emotions. I left the theatre feeling an overwhelming sense of a wonderful melancholy, reflecting on the joys of my ordinary little life.
David says: ********** (8/10)
Ouch.
Many of the characters hit very close to home, both self and family-wise.