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When you have a midlife crisis, what do you really want or have to have? Do you want to travel the world because you missed out or buy the car of your dreams? Why not both? Many people have that midlife crisis and want to do something unique and meaningful with their lives. I would like to have a book published and see the world. American Beauty is a black comedy directed by Sam Mendes, who presents a story where the main character has a midlife crisis and decides to stop being a loser.
The film begins with the narration from Lester Burnham (Spacey), a 42-year-old father, husband, and advertising executive who gives an account of his life before his untimely death. Lester is in a loveless marriage with his materialistic and ambitious realtor wife, Carolyn (Bening). Carolyn feels that she is being held back as she is unsuccessful in her career. Lester’s 16-year-old daughter Jane (Birch) is unhappy and struggling with self-esteem issues as she wants to have a boob job. Lester reflects on his life and concludes that he is an absolute loser. Big ole “L” right on his forehead. Lester’s monotonous life changes when he meets Jane’s best friend, Angela Hayes, at a high school basketball game. Lester develops a Lolita-like infatuation with Angela. As the days go by, Lester fantasizes about Angela and seems to get his life back by working out, smoking pot, and buying the car he always dreamed of. New neighbors, The Fitts’, led by USMC Col. Frank Fitts, USMC (Cooper), his distant wife Barbara (Janney), and his camcorder-obsessed son Ricky (Bentley). Over the next few days, life changes for all the members of the Burnhams individually. Soon it becomes clear that their lives are not so beautiful, and sacrifices will need to be made to be truly happy.
Let’s talk about the plot of this film. I thought it was strange and a little bit of what the freak am I watching. Yet, the film’s main tone is a man looking at his pathetic life and wanting freedom and youth again in an almost comical way. Lester states that both his daughter and wife think he is a loser. On the outside, you wouldn’t think that because he lives in a great neighborhood in the suburbs, has a beautiful and ambitious wife, a daughter that is a cheerleader, and has an okay job in sales. Yet underneath the veil of happiness, you see that Lester is absolutely miserable in his life. At dinner, his family sits and listens to god-awful music and does not speak to each other. His boss or supervisor brings in a consultant to explain that they will be making cuts. Also, Lester hasn’t been getting any ass from his wife as they haven’t been loving each other at all. Lester lives in a broken marriage.
As you watch, one might ask the question: is Lester having a midlife crisis or breaking free from the boredom of his life and trying to reclaim the youth he lost and the love that he always craved for once again. Now, Lester’s life changes when he meets Jane’s friend Angela, the spunky, oversexualized girl who thinks she is hot stuff. When Lester sees her, he becomes smitten and wants to bang her. It is straight-up CREEPY and gives you the feeling that you are a pedophile and should call the police. The dude becomes obsessed with this girl. Once she hears Angela state that he would sleep with him if he gained a little muscle, Lester goes on a mission to make this happen.
Through Angela, Lester goes full throttle with his plan to reclaim his freedom, life, and passion. He starts working out and smoking that Mary Jane and rebelling against everything. Lester quits his job and, before he leaves, asks for severance pay with one year’s salary and benefits. He straight up blackmails the company and gets what he wants and, on the way, home applies at a fast-food joint. At dinner that night, Lester goes straight BOSS mode and throws a plate, to everyone’s surprise, saying that he hates the dinner and listening to the music. Dude seems free. He even buys the car he always wanted.
As Lester is the main view, the movie shows what the other members of Lester’s family are dealing with. Let’s start off with Carolyn. She is a realtor who wants to be the best one ever. She is ambitious, but she tries to display her life is perfect. Honestly, homegirl is absolutely fake, but she just doesn’t see it. When she gets into an affair with Buddy, she is trifling. Buddy tears that thang up, and she loves it, yet, she is trapped in her own life.
The final storyline is with Jane. Jane is the low self-esteem teenage daughter who wants boob surgery and is best friends with Angela, who somewhat keeps her own pedestal. Angela’s world change when Ricky and his strict father, Frank, a retired Marine, moves in across the street. Ricky is creepy in himself. He has this weird look to him and always filming things. What was the deal with the plastic bag? Yet, Jane and Ricky become infatuated with each other in a strange and creepy way in my eyes.
Now I was really uncomfortable with all the Lester fantasizing scenes. They were beautifully done and showed that Lester saw true beauty in the young girl who was his Lolita. Every time Lester fantasies about Angela, it’s either she is in a bathtub or bed and is constantly surrounded by roses, or the appearance of roses becomes prominent. They either float out of her jacket as she undresses or is pleasantly placed over her privates. Roses are everywhere, and I won’t be able to look at them the same way ever again. Once again, straight creepy.
I want to give a big up to Conrad Hall for the cinematography. With certain shots, if you looked closely, it symbolized what many of the characters are going through. For example, when Lester is at his job, you see a shot of him in the computer scene. As he speaks, his image is reflected off of it, and it seems like he is in a prison cell. Another example is watching the world through Ricky’s eyes. We mostly see the world through his camera lens and what he is really focused on. It has that creepy home video vibe but is interesting to look at.
Kevin Spacey as Lester Burnham was excellent in his role. Yes, later on, he is a creepy dude in real life, but as this character, it was fun to watch him. I think everyone goes through a mid-life crisis where they are not happy, but Lester said fuck it and went all out before he died. He is a massive creep for lusting over his daughter’s friend. Annette Bening as Carolyn Burnham was funny, but oh, was she an ambitious woman. Carolyn was the type of woman who wanted to display perfection. The whole slapping of her face was funny while doing her pep talk. Thora Birch as Jane Burnham and Wes Bentley as Ricky Fitts were a nice little couple who developed this love for each other in a weird way and nice to see. Mena Suvari, as Angela Hayes, was one of those girls who spoke a big game but really wasn’t shit and too full of herself.
American Beauty is a funny story of a man named Lester who goes from being a loser to a man who, in the end, finds himself before his untimely end. Spacey, Bening, Birch, and the rest of the cast are great in their respective roles and are a joy to watch. Find out what happens when a mid-life crisis hits you in the face and the things you do to get what you want out of life.
