American Beauty Back to Index

Imdb Rating: 8.5
Genre: Drama
Directed: Alan Ball (written by)
Country: USA
Year: 1999
Duration: 122 min

Media: Hot stuff
Recommended by zMin

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Actors: Kevin Spacey (as Lester Burnham), Annette Bening (as Carolyn Burnham), Thora Birch (as Jane Burnham), Wes Bentley (as Ricky Fitts), Mena Suvari (as Angela Hayes), Chris Cooper (as Col. Frank Fitts, USMC), Peter Gallagher (as Buddy Kane), Allison Janney (as Barbara Fitts), Scott Bakula (as Jim Olmeyer), Sam Robards (as Jim Berkley), Barry Del Sherman (as Brad Dupree), Ara Celi (as Sale House Woman #1), John Cho (as Sale House Man #1), Fort Atkinson (as Sale House Man #2), Sue Casey (as Sale House Woman #2)

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Description: "... look closer"

Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation for his daughter's attractive friend.

Comment: I have come to see the movie with a certain prejudice. Everyone saying that it was so wonderful, so touching, so excited -- I usually tend to go with movies that nobody likes. Nevertheless, this one was a certain exception.

It is a wonderful psychological drama, a satire about the American community and about the American life; dark, painful irony and cynicism in the descriptions of life and characters; deep sarcasm on types of people in the community, habits of behaviour such as "...if you want to succeed, you always have to seem successful..." or "never stop smiling", parasites of the community, and, most importantly, the treatment of people who are "different", who are "freaky" to some extent; and eventually, there is no character in the film that is not odd in its way, although we have to wait for the very ending of the film, to discover this.

With very deep and accurate exaggeration, (most of) the characters in the movie demonstrate the worst, the darkest sides of their personality, while still remaining very human, very touching and very involving the observer. Everyone can find a certain similarity with characters and persons who he met in his life, in the characters described in the film. The tragi-comical events, the little pieces of funny, disturbing irony dripping from almost every episode, lead the observer to exploration of the American Beauty -- the beauty in life, and the way that we fail to find it, for all our life; the way we hide our feelings and emotions, even behind sullen walls of our sepulchre.

The acting is truly brilliant, the episodes are built logically, coherently, the dialogues are deep, thrilling, intriguing; every sentence and every word is deeply constructed, containing profound irony and intelligent elements of humors. The plot is very intelligently built, constructing a true indication of the sad situation of the American society, and an excellent ground for the actors.

An amazing movie, strongly recommended. 10/10

IMDB TRIVIA FOR AMERICAN BEAUTY (1999):
- 'Kevin Spacey' and Annette Bening were both the first choices of Sam Mendes for the roles of Lester and Carolyn although the role of Lester Burnham was originally offered to Chevy Chase and Tom Hanks (who later starred in Mendes's follow-up project Road to Perdition (2002)).
- The role of Angela Hayes was offered to Kirsten Dunst, who turned it down.
- Terry Gilliam turned down the chance to direct the film.
- Jeff Daniels was also considered for the role of Lester Burnham.
- Thora Birch was only 17, so filming her brief nude scene required permission from her parents, who were both on the set during the filming along with child labor representatives.
- The Smiley fast food restaurant is actually a Carl's Jr.
- The Spartanettes' dance routine was choreographed by singer Paula Abdul.
- Wes Bentley smoked honey tobacco with 'Kevin Spacey' for the pot-smoking scenes.
- This film has been described as "Death of a Salesman" for the nineties. Early in the film, Carolyn mentions that "the Lomans" just moved out of the house next door.
- The last name of Mena Suvari's character, Angela Hayes, is probably a reference to the last name of Lolita Haze, from the Vladimir Nabokov novel "Lolita."
- Lester Burnham, a middle-aged man who develops an infatuation with an adolescent girl, is an update of Humbert Humbert from the classic novel Lolita. "Lester Burnham" is an anagram for "Humbert learns."
- Like his earlier film, The Usual Suspects (1995), this film ends with a 'Kevin Spacey' voice-over, with the screen fading to black before he speaks the final words. ("You will someday" in this film; "He's gone" in The Usual Suspects (1995)).
- Lester gives his work phone number as 555-0199. This was also the phone number Al Pacino leaves on Russell Crowe's answering machine in the beginning of The Insider (1999), released the same year. This was also Agent Fox Mulder's phone number during the third season of the X-files.
- The self-help tapes that Carolyn listens to are made by a "Dr. Alan Ball." Alan Ball is the film's screenwriter.
- The end credits extend special thanks to "Dr. Bill & Alice." This is a reference to Eyes Wide Shut (1999), whose female lead, Nicole Kidman, appeared on stage in The Blue Room, also directed by Sam Mendes.
- In Lester's cubicle we see a small movie poster for The Usual Suspects (1995).
- The area codes in Jane's phone book are 312, which is the area code for Chicago. The paper in the Burnham's kitchen appears to be the Chicago Sun-Times. Also, the lawn signs for both Carolyn and Buddy have phone numbers with an (847) area code. The (847) area code serves the northern suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. However, the license plates in the film are not Illinois plates, and the filmmakers made an effort to avoid any specificity in the locale, in favor of a more generic setting.
- The tagline and important theme of the film - "Look closer" - can be seen in Lester's cubicle at work. It was simply something a set dresser had put in, and director Sam Mendes noticed it while editing and suggested it be used for the poster.
- The title of the film refers to a breed of roses.
- Director Cameo: [Sam Mendes] Near the end of the film, when Ricky opens the kitchen door to discover Lester, the hand opening the door (to reveal the blood on the table) is that of director Sam Mendes.
- The video for "Cancer For The Cure" by Eels can be seen on a television Jane and Angela are watching.
- Executive Producer 'Steven Spielberg' personally recommended Sam Mendes to direct this film.
- Director Sam Mendes personally filmed the pivotal POV shot of Ricky's camera when he zooms past the figure of Angela to "look closer" at Jane's smiling reflection in the mirror.
- Though the film appears to be set in a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, the aerial shots over the town were filmed above Sacramento, California. The crew originally wanted to use San Jose, California, for the shot, but its police department wouldn't allow their helicopter to fly below 300 feet due to noise disturbance; the crew had hoped for a 100-ft height. However, the same 300-ft height limit was imposed in Sacramento as well.
- Director Trademark: [Sam Mendes] Water marks the event of a death
- The helicopter shot at the beginning of the movie was originally for a flying sequence where Lester floats over the houses and then down onto his bed.
- The high school campus scenes, including the Spartanette dance sequence in the gymnasium, were shot at South High School in Torrance, California.
- The original script was topped and tailed with scenes of Ricky and Jane in jail and on trial, and other events surrounding their arrest.
- The scene where Lester is putting in an application for the counter job at Smiley Burger was actually shot at night, but it was later fixed to look like day. Notice that neither Lester nor the burger kid have shadows on their faces from the sun.
- The bartender at the restaurant where Ricky works is producer Bruce Cohen.
- The childhood pictures of Thora Birch (one of her in a tuxedo-like outfit) previously appeared in Patriot Games (1992).
- In the original version of the script, there was a separate story that included Frank Fitts (Chris Cooper) having a gay lover who dies in Vietnam.
- Alan Ball originally intended to write a script about Amy Fisher, the "Long Island Lolita" who shot lover Joey Buttafuoco's wife Mary Jo Buttafuoco in 1992; but each successive draft of the script drifted farther away from that story, until it essentially disappeared.
- Director Sam Mendes storyboarded extensively, based on his plan to use three visual styles - a very formal style for the bulk of the film, augmented by a more graceful style for the fantasy scenes and a handheld look for the video footage.
- The first day-and-a-half of filming - including Carolyn's open house scene - had to be thrown out after the film turned out too dark, making Annette Bening almost impossible to see; director Sam Mendes and cinematographer Conrad L. Hall concluded the problem had been their overly polite relations, and agreed to be more open with one another.
- Sam Mendes designed the two girls' look to change over the course of the film, with Thora Birch gradually using less makeup and Mena Suvari gradually using more, to emphasize his view of their shifting perceptions of themselves.
- After the film was complete, director Sam Mendes and editor Tariq Anwar decided to scrap a short fantasy opening and the lengthy epilogue in which Jane and Ricky are tried for Lester's murder, choosing instead to increase the three teens' screen time throughout the film; many of the cast and crew were caught completely by surprise when they saw the finished film.
- Chris Cooper was the last actor cast - virtually when rehearsals were beginning. When he first read the script, he found the character infuriating, thinking: "God, do I want to spend so much time in this character's head?" He remembers, "Then I started making excuses... I said, this is such a negative script, I don't like this and that." His wife finally told him he was "frightened of this script and chances are because you're frightened you should do this part"; his response was that he "knew, really immediately, that she was right."
- Wes Bentley was the first actor to read for the part of Ricky, and was asked to do the scene where he describes his reaction to the plastic bag; the casting director felt that although she had read that scene numerous times, his reading was the first time she felt she understood the meaning of it.
- In the script, Lester was supposed to go ahead and have sex with Angela, but it was decided that it would be better to have him stop just short of doing so - in spite of the filmmakers' concerns that they might be making the change out of uneasiness with having the main character actually go that far.
- Another version of the script involved Ricky and Jane being arrested and convicted for the murder of Lester. The main evidence is the video Ricky made of Jane offering him $3,000 to kill her father, which we, the viewers, find out was a joke immediately after Ricki turns off the camera, one second too late for the defense. It also involves Mrs. Fitts finding her husband's bloody clothes, and hiding them immediately after.
- According to his Oscar speech, Alan Ball was sitting at the World Trade Center plaza when he saw a paper bag floating in the wind and was inspired by it to write the film.
- The hand and stomach on the film's poster do not belong to Mena Suvari, but are in fact those of actress/model Chloe Hunter.
- 'Kevin Spacey' improvised everything he does in the car while his character is stoned and singing to "American Woman".
- Alan Ball originally began writing American Beauty as a play.
- Jake Gyllenhaal auditioned for the role of Ricky Fitts.
- The shot where Annette Bening screams after her failure to sell the house was done in one take.
- There is a poster for metal band Orgy's first album "Candyass" on the wall in Jane's bedroom.

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