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American Beauty
The Awards Edition
review by Zach B.
Rated R
Studio: Dreamworks
Running Time: 124 minutes
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch,
Wes Bentley, Mena Suvari, Chris Cooper
Written by Alan Ball
Directed by Sam Mendes
Retail Price: $26.99
Features: Commentary with Alan Ball and Sam Mendes,
Featurette, Storyboard Comparison, Theatrical Trailers, Cast
and Crew Bios, Production Notes, DVD-ROM: Screenplay,
Weblinks
Specs: 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, English Dolby
Digital 5.1, English DTS 5.1, English Subtitles, Chapter
Search
Where to begin... where to begin... I'm not sure what I
could say what already has been said about "American
Beauty", which has been piled into history with countless
rave reviews and an impressive amount of awards and
nominations. I'll be honest, I never got the chance to see
"American Beauty" in the theater, despite the fact how much
I wanted to. I will admit though that when I originally saw
the trailer, I thought the film looked horrible and somewhat
stupid. I was dead wrong, I read sooo many rave reviews and
then I wanted to see it, but I never got a chance to. Yet
when I got to finally see the film, I was blown away. So let
me look closer (forgive me for using the tagline) at the
film...
The Burnhams may seem like your average, modern
middle-class American family. Lester works for a magazine
company, Carolyn is a real estate agent and their daughter
Jane is your typical teenager. However, beneath the surface,
we learn that their lives are slowly unraveling. Lester and
Carolyn's marriage is over with and all they do is bicker,
Jane is completley insecure, and now back to Lester, he's
pretty much sick of it all. Yet when he sees the
cheerleading friend of Jane, Angela, something inside of
Lester snaps. He quits his job and learns to feel free once
again. However, Lester learns that the ultimate freedom has
the ultimate price. We also have focus on the house next
door to the Burnhams, the Fitts, which are nothing like
normal. Ricky is the boy next door who is a drug dealer and
befriends Jane, his mother is just wacked-up and his father
has a rich army background with a hate for homosexuals (as
it originally seems). However, these two houses mend into
one incredible story known as "American Beauty". I didn't
think this movie was a dark comedy as some have called it,
but I found it to be a rich, eloping drama with some humor
here and there.
Let me first praise the cast. This cast is one of the
finest ensembles ever. Each actor/actress perfectly
pinpoints their emotions and depth needed for their roles.
Kevin Spacey is phenomenal and really deserved that
Oscar® as Lester Burnham, the opressed and depressed
father going through some sort of crisis. Annette Bening is
wonderful as Carolyn, a woman who has no sense of who she is
and where her life is going. Chris Cooper, Thora Birch, Mena
Suvari, Allison Janey, Peter Gallahger and Wes Bentley are
simply wonderful in their great, supporting roles.
Now, onto the behind the scenes sort of things. Sam
Mendes' first outing as a director is really, really
impressive. He perfectly captures the social commentary and
insecuirities of the characters into the film. I found it
really interesting that a guy with an English background
succeeded in directing a movie about American suburban life.
Alan Ball's script is great, great lines and great points he
makes through his words. Conrad L. Hall's cinematography
works really well here and captures the true essence of the
film, and the editing is well done. Oh, and Thomas Newman's
quirky score. I couldn't imagine the film without it.
I know a lot of people who hated this film with a
passion, and I really can't see why (and of course, there
are millions upon million who have warmly embraced it). This
movie is really, really well done and I can watch it over
and over again, always finding something new and never get
bored. If you haven't seen this movie yet, run and look
closer at an extradoniary motion picture, where there is
nothing quite like it.
I found this to be the most disappointing part of the
disc. It's not a terrible transfer, but not the quality I've
come to expect from Dreamworks, especially considering this
film is pretty new and one of their most honored films. A
little time and care could have made this what it should
have been, but the main thing which plagues this transfer is
the excessive amount of grain, blemishes and debris. I found
it to be pretty annoying, like it was just taken right from
a theater print, no clean up or anything and just transfered
right on to the DVD. Beside the grain, there were a few
times I felt images were a bit soft and colors felt washed
out. Other than that, the transfer has some good points.
Some scenes the colors do look good, and detail is nice. I
also noticed some really slight artifacting, but nothing
major and I doubt anyone will notice. It's a decent
transfer... just disappointing because I felt Dreamworks has
raised the bar in the past.
The audio was surprisingly good, to my surprise. I didn't
know what to expect with either track, but each is booming
and brings even more life into the already great film.
The 5.1 Dolby Digital is a great option. Dialogue is
clear, the wonderful score by Thomas Newman is brought to
full life, and I felt when surrounds were used, they sounded
quite good.
However, I like the DTS 5.1 a little bit better, as I
felt it was a bit more aggressive and had more dynamic
range. You may not realize how much different this could
sound from the Dolby Digital, but when you hear it, you can
point it out. The finale with the rain, gunshots, just the
way it is presented sounds a tad bit different from the
Dolby Digital. I felt the music in the DTS had a bit more
depth to it, and dialogue was easy to hear.
Make no mistake though, depending on which track you
pick, you're in for a very nice listen.
DVD fans became really disappointed too when they learned
the film would take a little while longer to come out on
their beloved DVD format. Dreamworks' reason was that they
wanted to get as many cast and crew members to participate
in the DVD. When observing the features and hearing the
statement, you instantly think "What the hell were they
talking about?". The DVD only features three people as far
as major involvment (Mendes, Ball and Cinematographer Conrad
Hall), and the features are a bit standard, and I found,
disappointing in a few cases. Still, it's better than
nothing, but I would have liked to see more and more new
ground broken.
First and foremost, what I think is the crown jewel of
the disc, is the Audio Commentary with Sam Mendes and
Alan Ball. This track is very good for the most part, as
Mendes shares some inspirations and insight on the film
itself. Yet what disappointed me with this track is that
Mendes dominates the track, giving little time for Ball to
speak. Where at points I was hoping to hear Ball say a few
words, Mendes just kept talking. Still, if you loved the
movie you can learn a good amount from here.
American Beauty: Look Closer is a featurette that
lasts around 22 minutes (and seems to have noticable
commercial stops, this probably aired on TV). I found this
featurette to be a bit more promotional, concentrating on
the acclaim the film has gotten, but there are some nice
interviews with Alan Ball, Sam Mendes and Dreamworks CEO
himself, Steven Spielberg. It's worth a watch once.
The Storyboard Comparison lasts about an hour
long, and has Sam Mendes and Conrad Hall talking through the
whole thing. It's pretty interesting to watch actually, as
we see storyboards and how certain scenes were staged. If
you plan to watch this though, you'll probably have to do so
straight through. Sadly (and with much annoyance), you can't
fast foward through this and they're no chapter stops of any
kind. Still, it's quite interesting to see how things were
set up.
The usual Production Notes (nicely written and
detailed) are included, as well as Cast and Crew Bios
and two Theatrical Trailers. Also, for you DVD-ROM
users, you can read the Screenplay in a nice
interface that features the movie in a small box and for
some scenes, storyboards. This is very nice (and now you
don't have to buy the book which features the screenplay,
which does feature some written interviews. Well, that's one
way looking at it) and there are some Weblinks for
your enjoyment.
What most find disappointing is that Sam Mendes didn't
want to put deleted scenes on this disc, because he felt
they ruined the integrity of the film and that people would
then view it differently. I respect this choice, but Mendes
has some notes written in the disc insert which describes an
alternative ending involving Jane and Ricky. Still, with all
this said, and once again, I really would have liked to see
more supplements on the disc after Dreamworks delayed it.
While this film is a modern masterpiece, my thoughts on
the DVD are mixed. I felt Dreamworks could have cleaned up
the transfer and attempt to add in some more supplements,
especially since we had to wait a bit longer for this title.
But the supplements we have are good, the transfer is okay
and the sound is surprisingly booming. Look closer, and pick
yourself up a copy of "American Beauty".
 (4.5/5, NOT included in
final score)
 (3.5/5)
(4.5/5)
 (3/5)
(3.5/5, NOT an average)
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