American Beauty critique

A detailed Summary of American Beauty critique

American Beauty directed by Sam Mendes won the Academy Award for the Best Original Screenplay and the Best Picture Award. Film critics restrained from clear-cut negative reviews, only ocassionally pointing out weaknesses of the the plot or the shallowness of main themes of the picture. The money invested in realization of this film certainly paid back yielding a high level of return (just in U.S.A. 130 million dollars). To cut a long story short, this Hollywood production seems to be a great success. The choice of the subjects itself (grotesque depiction of American middle-class society) attracts the viewer's attention. The subtopics pursued in the film, namely beauty, work and repression, make it even more admirable. It obviously stands out from the mainstream of American cinema industry, still the scriptwriter and the director did not manage to steer clear of employing certain typical hollywood stereotypes and bias.

The first of subcurrents worth tracing in the film is the pursuit of beauty. As a matter of fact, it is rather yearning for the authentic beauty, which, here, is substituted with the fake glitter of luxuries, cash and dispensable objects. All the characters except Ricky Fitts (Wes Bentley)

Summing up, even though the film cetainly deserves recognition, there are a few shortcomings which, if amended, would render it even more praiseworthy. For instance, Lester's awekening from the coma of mundane life and menial work may seem simply implausible. Instead of conferring some profoundness on Lester's musings, the author presents us with a simplistic idea of conversion to the faith of second-chance realizations. Although Lester attempts at some deeper reflections in the end, they are barely convincing.

The author of 'Nature' also directs our attetion to the 'spiritual aspect of beauty' which allows a sensitive man to feel a momentary, faint sensation of an overwhelming '...incredibly benevolent force, that wanted [him] to know there was no reason to be afraid. Ever.'(Ball. The script). So this reclusive, introverted, 'mental boy' turns out to be a kind a modern prophet. His external, superficial madness is a catalyst which helps him achieve the state of personal autheticity.

homosexuals did not exist; when they did appear, they were portrayed as

This harmfull stereoypes are so strongly imprinted in the minds of American filmmakers that it appeared infeasible for Mendes to give a fair crack of a whip to all his characters and Colonel Fitts is certainly perceived most antipathetic.

Another topic permeating the picture is work and relationships among contemporary upper middle-class comunity. Two protagonists require closer scrutiny in the context of work discourse, namely Lester na

Some common words found in the essay are:
Lester Burnham, Colonel Fitts, Award Film, Erich Fromm's, John Cones, Whereas Carolyne, Colonel Besides, American Beauty, Emerson Waldoo, Wes Bentley, 'work alienated, 'what's hollywood', authentic beauty, alienated society', colonel fitts, 'work alienated society', american beauty, hollywood stereotypes,

Approximate Word count = 1017
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Movies