American Beauty is a 1999 drama film that explores themes of love, freedom, and the American Dream. The film concentrates around the Burnham family of three, consisting of Lester (the protagonist), his wife Carolyn, and their teenage daughter Jane. This nucleus is then tied to other characters, including the next-door neighbours, the Fitts family. The film explores themes such as modern Western societies' focus on physical appearance and success, to the detriment of people truly getting to know each other on a deeper level. One of the more well-advertised plotlines was the infatuation of the main character with his daughter's schoolfriend. The film won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and is regarded as one of the finest multi Oscar winning films ever.
Plot
The movie begins with Lester Burnham, who is dead, describing the events of the last months of his life. At the beginning of the film, Lester is a middle-aged man living somewhere in suburban America who is dissatisfied with his life. Apparently suffering a mid-life crisis, he experiences a total change after he becomes infatuated with his daughter's school friend, Angela. This change is helped by him rediscovering his youth through exercise and smoking marijuana (also see G13), bought from a young man named Ricky Fitts whose family has just moved in next door. Quitting his job and blackmailing his boss for $60,000, he takes up a McJob at a small drive-through restaurant, Mr. Smiley's, remarking, "I want the least possible amount of responsibility."
Meanwhile, Lester's wife Carolyn begins an affair with a local real-estate magnate (Buddy Kane). According to Lester, she has lost sight of the truly important things in life in her quest for a successful career and a picture-perfect family, and she becomes increasingly frustrated as Lester continues his emancipation.
On the opposite side of the house live their other neighbors, a gay couple who are friends with Carolyn and occasionally exercise with Lester when he is getting in shape. They are relaxed and relatively unaffected by the ongoing drama.
Meanwhile, Jane, the Burnham's daughter, falls in love with Ricky. The two of them eventually decide to elope when Ricky's harsh dad, Colonel Fitts, seeing Ricky and Lester together, mistakenly thinks that they are having a sexual relationship and kicks his son out of his house. Throughout the film, Colonel Fitts makes a plethora of comments suggesting he is disgusted with homosexuality, though he is ultimately shown to be a closeted homosexual himself when, seemingly confused and distraught, he tries to kiss Lester. On that same night, Angela and Jane have a fight; Angela seeks out Lester and the two of them almost have sex; however, when Angela reveals that she is a virgin, Lester realizes this would be a mistake, and he is overcome with almost fatherly feelings for her.
The film ends with Lester being killed out of misplaced anger, yet with the question of who did it initially unresolved. Was it the jaded children, exhausted with their absent parents? His wife, tired of trying to 'fix' him? Angela, for inexplicable reasons? No—it was their neighbour, Colonel Fitts, consumed by a mix of self-loathing, rage and a desire to mask the secret of his sexuality.
There is a hint of recursion in the story—Ricky resembles a younger Mr. Burnham in many ways. This is further strengthened at the end, when Lester—in his dying reverie—uses Ricky's words, "there is so much beauty in the world".
Films on similar themes
The movie Fight Club explores similar themes of the American dream and challenging societal norms. The main character in Fight Club, like Lester Burnham, is displeased with his current lifestyle and begins participating in illicit or counter-cultural activities. He also blackmails his boss for a few years' pay. Both films end with a crucial destructive event that nevertheless leaves the viewer optimistic about the future.
The film Donnie Darko exhibits parallels of teenage angst and alienation delivered in a similar stylistic manner. It is worth noting that Donnie Darko was released in 2001 and may in fact be influenced by American Beauty.
In Vladimir Nabokov's well-known novel Lolita, a man by the name of Humbert lusts after a much, much younger girl; the same plot features in American Beauty. Two films have been made from the book, by Stanley Kubrick and Adrian Lyne respectively. Lester Burnham is an anagram of "Humbert learns", a delightful reference that is, in fact, deliberate. Furthermore, the family name of Nabokov's Lolita, Haze, is homophonous with Angela's last name, Hayes. Technically speaking, Angela Hayes is roughly four years too old to be a "nymphet" in the way Nabokov's novel defines; however, she meets the definition of "nymphet" in more widespread usage.
Cast
Academy Awards
- Won
- Nominated
External links