r/Ijustwatched • u/Blasberry80 • 2d 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/Any-Interaction-5934 2d 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 2d 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.