Aug 22, 2001 03:38 PM
2608 Views
American beauty was a film that looked moderately unattractive to me.
I thought it was going to be a typical American teen flick.
How wrong I was.
It just goes to show you that you dont know what a film is really like until you sit down and watch it.
It looks at mundane suburban lives and the devastation misunderstood signals and badly interpreted situations can lead to.
The film follows a couple in America.
Typical family who are having problems.
Teenage daughter who has become a pawn in her parents stormy marriage.
A father who is approaching what appears to be a midlife crisis.
A mother who puts her career First and family Second.
The gay couple from next door who go out of their way to appear normal.
The tarty school friend who claims to have done it all.
The Weirdo Guy from nextdoor with an even more strange family.
All of these characters are interwoven into a plot so tangled, it makes compulsive viewing.
I watche dit last night with my wife and must say I enjoyed it immensely.
The cast were well selected for the film.
Kevin Spacey plays the ageing father who is deep into his midlife crisis.
A crush on his daughters friend leads to neglect of his daughter as he tries to impress.
His Job sucks and he decides enough is enough as he does what he wants from now on.
A good selection for this role I think.
Annette Benning plays the obsessed wife. Career first, Family second. She seems to have lost her mind a bit and this could be due to her bad relationship.
Mena Suvari plays the tempstress friend who is not what she seems in the end. Watch it to see what I mean.
I cant picture her as anything else other than the squeaky-clean choir singer in American Pie.
Wes Bentley is introduced into the film world as the strange boy next door who likes filming things.
Good points.
------------
Its compelling watching as the plot unfolds and the characters become more wierd.
The story is well thought out and makes a change from either Action or Sci Fi blockbusters.
I feel the film handled some strong subjects in a good way if a little tasteless.
Bad points.
-----------
Unbelievable storyline and a bad choice of actress for the role of the tempstress. If the naked scenes were meant to be erotic, they fell far short.
Both young girls in the film get their breasts out which I found rather disturbing.
The scenes with Kevin Spacey were almost paedophilic.
