"American Beauty" (1999)

IMO, American Beauty was trying too hard to be deep in meaning and to win Oscars. It was obvious to me. Didn't enjoy. Sorry, OP.

Benning is still the best part of the movie. She makes such an awful shrew into someone interesting that you can't take your eyes off of. She reminded me a lot of my mother at the time.

[quote]IMO, American Beauty was trying too hard to be deep in meaning and to win Oscars. It was obvious to me. Didn't enjoy. Sorry, OP.

Don’t worry - there will be more comic book movies coming out soon. That’s probably more your speed.

I loved this movie. Haven’t seen it in years. Spacey deserved That Oscar.

I still can’t believe Annette was only 41 and Spacey was only 40 when they made this movie! They looked so old! People look much better at 40 these days.

LOVED this movie. Exposed the banality of suburban life and the American dream.

This is a fantastic. Movie! I didn't really understand it until I saw it recently again, being over 40. All the actors are fantastic Esp. Mena Suvari.

R6, but hadn’t many movies done exactly that already?

R6, but hadn’t many movies done exactly that already?

I saw at as a College film student a couple times in the theater. I loved it and Benning’s character at the time. But I wonder if it would hold up?

I remember nothing about the movie except the scene with the Kevin Spacey character masturbating in the shower - thumbs up to our Kevin !

Bening’s character is the type of woman who enabled stupid, infantile boomer men to wake up one day owinbg homes and a cushy pension.

Of course, those men hate her for it.

Nowadays, those same men (losers, really) spend their lives in the mothers’ basements because women no longer have to spend their lives poking idiot men with a stick.

R8, I was only 20 when it came out, so it was probably the first type of those kind of movies I saw.

Life as a House starring DL fav Hayden Christensen was a lot better.

The mistaken kiss between Kevin Spacey & Wes Bentley wasn't nearly hot enough.

I enjoyed it for what it was. Was it the best movie of 1999? Probably not -- 1999 had a lot of good films and yet "The Cider House Rules" won one of the nominations for Best Film?

The Ice Storm was a brilliant look at American suburban life and a fairly perfect film. American Beauty by contrast was heavy-handed and obvious .

Benning was just okay, Spacey was just okay, the kids just had to look the part without much effort beyond that. It's not terrible, just disappointing in concept and execution like the first film of a promising film student that makes you scratch your head and wonder how did hype get mistaken for promise.

Benning is an actress I've never liked in anything, Wes Bentley and his spiraling plastic bag looked appropriately moody but there wasn't much beyond that.

That fucking plastic bag. What an overrated movie.

I thought it was okay and amusing enough to watch once but yeah definitely tryhard.

As far as 1990s films that won Best Movie Oscars, it's less offensive than Titanic, Forrest Gump, Braveheart, and Shakespeare in Love..

R20. Kinda true.

Being John Malkovich and The Insider were the real standout movies to me in 99. I hated The Sixth Sense and thought Cider House Rules was an overstuffed turkey of overly ripe apples with shit smeared on them.

People love to criticize this movie, but I don't really get all the hate. It had the perfect cast, perfect score, cinematography, script, editing, direction, and it came out at just the right time. If any one of those things was done differently, the whole thing could have fallen apart. But it somehow just worked. And it influenced just about every other movie that came out over the next 5 years, so maybe that's why people think it's contrived.

There was definitely something in the water in 1999. Lots of original, contemporary movies that year.

1999 is now considered one of the great film years. The Talented Mr Ripley is the standout to me.

Doesn't the self loathing gay neighbour kill the pedo at the end?

He wasn't a pedo.

I really love Magnolia especially Julianne Moore’s character.

I could've used more nude Wes Bentley (and I still could), but I also really enjoyed this film. I'm glad Bentley got his post-American Beauty heroin addiction under control, and his career back on track.

[quote] ht Cider House Rules was an overstuffed turkey of overly ripe apples with shit smeared on them.

Thank you! I don't remember a single thing about this movie except that Tobey Maguire's twink face was in it! And I saw it in the theater.

Thora Birch's character had pretty big tits in the film. I don't know why she wanted breast implants.

I think Thora Birch had a reduction not implants.

Fun fact: a model who was on Dr. Drew's Celeb Rehab played the wife of the real estate guru in the party scene. She says two words. It was her big break while she was hooking to pay the bills.

Dataloungers love Annette Bening's performance in this, but they seem to have an obsession with women who play controlling cold matriarchs. See also: Mary Tyler Moore in "Ordinary People"; Sian Philips in "I, Claudius"

SNL did it better in less than 6 minutes.

That score remains a masterpiece.

Did La Belle Spacey put the moves on Wes?

Of course he did. Why do you think Wes ended up on drugs?

R2 nails it. The score and Conrad Hall's cinematography are top notch as well. Ball's heavy-handed script as others mentioned is the main problem. He contorts the plot within an each of its life. I'm not sure what advice I would have given, but the "Who Dunnit?" aspect did little for me. Still doesn't do anything. I think the main issue is Cooper's character. Ball wants so much to make commentary on who appears to be gay vs. who actually is. It's so on-the-nose. Characters that are so black-and-white like Cooper's stuff things up unless they are some villain in a campfest. It can't be that movie, while also being serious and somber.

I was so excited to see it when it came out. The buzz was enormous. I got more disappointed as the film went on. I couldn't stand its cynicism which it then goes on to undermine with a sentimental finale that felt dishonest. I rolled by eyes at the reverence people had for this film.

And, yet, like two ships passing in the night, as the years went on and fans dropped off and began to reexamine their adoration for the film, I've appreciated it more (still, with some reservations) with time due in part to some weird nostalgia. Most moments I used to cringe, I am more forgiving for some reason. The Cooper/Spacey/garage scene is still a huge miss. But, I dunno. Like one of the previous commenters said, it fares better than quite a few 1990s BP-winners. (Of course, Silence of the Lambs is my favourite out of the ten by a long mile)

Strangely, I also hated Forrest Gump when it came out, and now I am kind of fond of it.

Also, a gentle reminder: it's "Bening." "Annette" has the double-n's. Not "Bening." :P

[quote] how did hype get mistaken for promise

R17 I never heard that phrase before. Your question could be applied to a variety of experiences.

Did Suvari end up as a 24/7 slave in the D/s world?

It was a great movie - very quirky, novel for the time, heavily polished, perfectly scored and very well acted. No weak link in sight. I think that it holds up very well today. I agree with R27 - Magnolia was excellent. Had it been up for Best Picture, I might have given it the nod over American Beauty. As it was, the other nominees were - The Cider House Rules, The Green Mile, The Sixth Sense and The Insider (a lot of "The"s!). American Beauty was head over heels more worthy a film than that dreck group so the win had to be no surprise to anyone.

The Insider was the best movie in that group of nominees.

The homosexual stuff didn't really age well, but still a notable film.

It gave me my big break when I was recycling just to pay the bills.

Was getting diddled by Spacey while making this movie what caused Wes Bentley's decade long descent into drugs?

The acting was overacting, way over the top

It’s another gays die /are horrible people film.

Cooper's misunderstanding (think his son is blowing Spacey) is like a bit from "Three's Company." I can see it now, Mr. Furley's nephew is selling weed to Jack, but Furley misinterprets what he sees and think's his nephew is blowing Jack.

Thora Birch was in Ghost World, which I loved when I was 15.

Happiness from Todd Solondz is also a very good movie about American suburbia, far more acerbic and dark.

I tried watching AB as an adult, and Annette Bening's performance was the only part that has aged well.

Thora Birch appeared on Marc Maron's podcast a few months ago and she was awesome. While she took a break from acting, she's started back up again within the past few years. She didn't address the allegations against Kevin Spacey or anything. Actually, all her good gossil was related to Ghost World (she and ScarJo were friends, Brad Renfo had some serious issues and was enabled by people in his circle).

Annette Benning seemed to be acting in a completely different movie. She was so OTT.

Agree with R50. Bening was great but her performance was totally out of sync with the rest of the cast. She acted like she was in a sitcom or something and was so OTT that she didn't even seem like a real person.

That horsey trailer park piece of trash won the Best Actress Oscar that year fair and square.

R47, I had exactly that reaction when I saw the movie. I remember making the Three’s Company comment to friends.

R52 Somebody should create a youtube video by placing some Three's Company music cues and canned laughs over the "American Beauty" scene.

I just don’t like Anette Benning in anything she does. I Don’t get the fascination about her in DL.

No kudos for one of my imaginary gfs, Allison Janney?

I forgot Janney played Ricky's mom! The role was rather one-dimensional. All she had to do was play a despondent housewife married to an uptight closet case. A scene between her and Annette Bening could've helped humanize both their characters. Instead, both were used make the husbands seem more dynamic.

[quote]A scene between her and Annette Bening could've helped humanize both their characters.

This would have been great!

Actually, really, really great.

Whatever movie Bening thinks she's in is the one I'd like to see. It was weird seeing her acting up a storm in something else while everyone else seemed to be a little more down to earth and somber. Maybe that was the whole point - her character believes she's in a different movie.

I still love the scene where she doesn't make a deal on the house, so she stands by the window and slaps herself while crying and yelling at herself to shut up. I love scenes where you get to see how characters are when they're by themselves or think they're alone. That scene alone told me everything I needed to know about this woman and her need for perfection.

R58, I love your post.

Alan Ball, with the same themes in America Beauty, went on to do better things with them in Six Feet Under a few years later.

It was heavy-handed and rife with unsubtle symbolism like an Oliver Stone film. The Ice Storm was a more nuanced portrayal of suburban ennui.

R33 That is one of my favorite SNL sketches because I have relatives who just like that family.

"I will sell this house today"

in my top 5 of favorite movies ever.

The Matrix should have been Best Picture but it wasn't even nominated in that category.

R16 I saw The Cider House Rules last year and it’s nomination was worthy.

[quote] That scene alone told me everything I needed to know about this woman and her need for perfection.

You hadn't figured that out in the film's first minutes when Spacey's narration told us it wasn't an accident that her character's colors while gardening matched?

That's my trouble with the screenplay--it's so incredibly heavy-handed. It just beats its points over your head.

Didn’t Benning s character scream “Fuck me king!’ When she was getting nailed by the king of real estate right before the hilarious drive thru restaurant scene? She was the only reason to watch this pretentious mess.

Bening really is the best part of this movie. Didn't Alan Ball say he based her on Cybil Shepherd after his days on her sitcom?

R46 don't forget the episode where Chrissy thinks she's pregnant and overhears a conversation that a baby can weigh over 20 lbs and she's freaked out!

R61) No one every talks about the Ice Storm. It’s a great film that I felt somehow connected to. I caught it on cable and was mesmerized. Way better than AB.

And this thread informs me that it has been 21 years since I have been inside a movie theater.

I know it's weird, but just not an experience I enjoy...so I don't.