16 years later...


I watched this film on VHS tape sometime in 2000. I probably just watched it one more time in 2001 even though I really liked it.
I just re-watched it for the first time in 15 years...
Aside from watching Mena and Wes Bentley as kids with the knowledge that they were/are my age (in real life, not as high school characters) and feeling incredibly old, I noticed that Annette Bening and Kevin Spacey really weren't as good as I thought so many years ago. Now that I have a clearer perception of life as an adult and a more refined taste (sorry for seeming pretentious) for acting, I think that their performances often feel forced, especially during the early scenes.
Yeah, I know that they are SUPPOSED to seem mechanical and forced as people, but even this was often overdone.
In retrospect, Wes Bentley and Chris Cooper were really its best actors by far.




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Wrong. Kevin Spacey was absolutely magnificent.

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[deleted]

I finished watching it for the first time about 15 minutes ago. I think it's problem at the moment is that its stuck in the weird place of being too old to be relevant, but too recent for people to view it from the perspective of the late 90's. I never once expected it to directly apply to me. For me, since I'm young enough to not really remember any of the 90's, it was easy to suppress any thoughts about the possibly dated issues such as extreme homophobia and marijuana usage. The same way we might approach watching any movie with those issues presented, such as Brokeback Mountain, for instance.

The difference with this film, I find, is that these issues are not the main ones being explored, at all. There are many controversial things presented in this film, yet none of them are heavily scrutinised. I don't think there was a single "she's too young, thats illegal" line in the film. Instead, what this film portrays is that being false to yourself, living a lie and lying to others is a surefire way to be miserable, and only with being true to yourself can you become happy.

Some may find this corny. I don't care, it's a completely relevant message, in a movie beautifully styled, with enough unexpected character developments to make it very interesting to watch.

Also, did anyone else find it funny? I have a dark sense of humour, but I found Spacey's character to be morbidly hilarious.

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being too old to be relevant, but too recent for people to view it from the perspective of the late 90's.

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Are you saying that AFTER Americans swallowed 9/11 and cowered into their own iPhone "village" that things got better?

http://www.kindleflippages.com/ablog/

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I don't think there was a single "she's too young, thats illegal" line in the film.

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You missed the whole message

eg "all I did was party and get laid" - so Lester did not even have to try to get sex - it came to him.

But would ANY boy be game to approach Angela? [the 50 years on Lolita look alike]

http://www.kindleflippages.com/ablog/

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https://www.datalounge.com/thread/19006532-american-beauty-1999-

This movie just feels "classic" and though it was very modern at the time, it still felt anachronistic even then, like it was destined to be a time capsule film and it is. It really captures the late-90s, suburban zen haze, when the nation wasn't preoccupied with looming terror threats, dangerous foreign entanglements, and the possibility of total financial ruin. It also influenced popular culture in a lot of ways shortly after it's release. Shows like Six Feet Under and Desperate Housewives definitely borrowed themes from American Beauty. This was one film that really seemed deserving of the praise and accolades. I never quite understood that backlash against it. I can see how people might not like it, but it's got elements that seem undeniably brilliant, like Spacey and Benning's performances especially.

—Anonymous

reply 29 2 hours ago

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Seeing as how Six Feet Under's writer is the same writer as American Beauty (Alan Ball)...that's not surprising.

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Disagree - nothing feels forced about it.

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I've seen it many times but not for a while. Thanks for reminding me I need to see this again.

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Almost 20 years later and this movie has really aged itself as trying too hard to be an edgy Post-modern American family movie turned on its head. Lester is not an enlightened man but rather a childish hypocrite who disassociates with reality and regresses at the expense of his own family. Annette Bening's character, while funny, was too 2 dimensional for her own good. Yes, there are people in the 'burbs who are that vapid and materialistic but the writers didn't give her much background other than her being an Avon lady on steroids.

The ending sequence with Lester's waxing soliloquy about the irony of his life was initially touching when I first saw it, but then after seeing it again I felt like telling him "good riddance, asshole".

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