American Beauty 1999
This movie isn’t why I go to the movies. I go to be entertained not appalled. The characters are all loathsome. And not in a fun wicked way like in The Ref or Jack Nicholson’s Joker, but just plain loathsome. These aren’t people I want to know, be around, or live near.
But they still make for at least an interesting movie which mildly redeems itself in the end. I’ve heard so much about how great this movie is. There are some good acting performances but I think it’s easier to play someone who is really abnormal than to play a believable normal person.
Everyone in the movie is in a horrible rut in their life and not dealing well with it. You watch this movie and you think that if anyone had the tiniest amount of humanity everyone could work everything out. But humanity is lacking from every character.
There are big moments here that should be sort of amusing except that they are played too seriously. I would have liked to have laughed when Annette Bening has a screaming fit, but it’s too sad to laugh. Good acting, bad writing, I suppose. I think the writers took too many creative liberties that made the characters less than human.
I usually like dark comedies, but this is more of a dark drama with rare comic moments.
I was thinking I would give it a B- but now that I’ve ranted about it I am more tempted to give it a C. I had better trust my first impression and give it a B- anyway because it was largely a well done film.
Written: 11 Oct 1999
Owned on: Blu-ray, Digital