The winner of five Oscars including Best Picture, American Beauty is a film that covers a
lot of the problems of Middle America in just
two hours. Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is an average man in an average town,
working an average job. Lester is married to the pushy, cold and career driven Carolyn
(Annette Bening) and is in the midst of a mid life crisis which is heightened
with an infatuation for his daughter Jane’s (Thora Birch) friend Angela (Mena
Suvari).
I thought I’d seen the film years ago and remembered the
stand out scenes but had forgotten an awful lot of the plot so ended up unsure
if I had actually seen it. American
Beauty is a fascinating film which cuts to the heart of the suburban
American psyche, bringing up some uncomfortable ideas about sexuality,
infidelity, violence, mental illness and incest. Despite a compelling story,
some very good performances and fine direction I wasn’t always able to get
totally on board with it.
