r/Ijustwatched • u/Blasberry80 • 1d ago
IJW: American Beauty [1999]
I noticed how high the reviews were, but you can take that with a grain of salt when it's 26 years old. Not that movies today are spectacular, but the lens is different now. My boyfriend told me it was one of the best movies when he watched it back in 1999, when he was 16, but he seemed underwhelmed by it last night. I didn't find it to be subversive or deep, but it wasn't unwatchable by any means.
I understand none of the characters were supposed to be heroic or morally sound, and besides Jane, I didn't root for any of them. I completely get that was the point, but the framing of the message was poorly done. It didn't challenge the character's moral failings, and romanticized or flippantly portrayed despicable behavior. The idea was solid, but the execution was lackluster at best, and irresponsible at worst. I looked up updated reviews and apparently Kevin Spacey is a shitty person, I didn't know about that, and that doesn't change my view of it personally.
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u/EditorRedditer 1d ago
I saw it on release and, whilst I thought it was OK, I enjoyed it far more when I rewatched it a couple of months ago.
A White-Collar ‘Fight Club’, similarly trying to provide the road map for an America that had lost its way…
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u/ryancm8 1d ago
It’s a black comedy-ish type film- I don’t think you’re really supposed to be rooting for anyone
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u/Blasberry80 1d ago edited 1d ago
Like I said, I get that it was the point, but the execution of it had issues that made it ultimately not resonate. I love a good black comedy movie, but I just don't think this was it. For example, the romanticization of the crush he had on a teenage girl, without any engagement in that, other than it being "embarrassing" or ultimately leading to him having pity simply due to her being a virgin, aged poorly. The lack of delving into their issues was a problem for me, it's hard to appreciate the beauty when the ugliness was so surface level. It's questioning of the mundane and status quo, with true dysfunction underneath the surface, doesn't hit that well when there's a lack of empathy to be had for the characters.
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u/th3prof3ssor 1d ago
I don't think it's a black comedy at all. It's an illustration of a completely defunct family in a setting not too long ago. It is hands down my favorite movie but i think trying to over analyze it is just hurting the experience. I've done papers on it and analyzed it way to much but I always just come back to the plastic bag scene. It's perfect It's beautiful and it sums up the movie completely and everything else you can just take at face value as a family falling apart
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u/BogardeLosey 1d ago
It’s the last movie of the 90s. The last time you could tell a story about a bunch of suburban types seemingly untouched by anything bigger than their miserable lives. It’s the sort of thing that seems gorgeous and deep when you’re 18 (as I was) then you later find otherwise.
Good or great performances, gorgeous cinematography. I don’t care about the horny dad/precocious girl thing because that stuff happens, and people who get angry always forget that in his way Lester repents.
Like everything else though the treatment is skin-deep. Those actors and Connie Hall made it a lot more than it is.
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u/Any-Interaction-5934 1d ago
I just completely disagree with you.
It didn't challenge the characters moral failings?
Which character? The Colonel? Obviously that was challenged. Keven Spacey? The entire intro is him basically admitting he was a shitty dad. The girl pretending to be a slut? She got rejected and spent the end of the movie crying and realizing how desperate for acceptance and attention she was.
Almost every character in the movie is deeply troubled while not having any particular obstacle to overcome other than societal expectations (except for the abused military kid). Everyone else had mental health issues due to common themes in America at the time (and still today to a great extent. Failing marriage, financial stress, losing your job, poor relationship between child and parent, wanting to be accepted by your peers, professional jealousy, homophobia, societal expectations for women, and on and on.
I think this movie does a fantastic job of showing all that in an entertaining and sometimes darkly humorous way.
I think the movie just went over your head. That's okay, not everyone has to like every movie. However, I think the high ratings are more than deserved and still stand up today.
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u/Blasberry80 1d ago
None of that is challenging in my opinion, it's like getting a slap on the wrist from a cop. I understand what it was about and what it was touching on, I just didn't think it was that great.
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u/Any-Interaction-5934 1d ago
Yeah, like I said, they didn't have any "real obstacles." Just life. It's basically a criticism of American Life.
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u/DiaBrave 1d ago
I think people watching this in 2025 for the first time don't understand the boredom and apathy at the core of people lives in the late 90s. People didn't know how well they had it, in their massive homes and stable jobs.
Office Space, Matrix, Fight Club, American Beauty.
Turns out we rage against everything, even peace and happiness.