Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘American Beauty’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

There comes a point, sometimes more often than we would like, when our life settles into complacency. There is no thrill in the morning when we wake to head to work. There is no thrill as we go about our day. Life is simply happening, and we feel powerless to change anything about it.  

On the plus side this feeling of malaise eventually fades when something exciting arrives and we quickly find ourselves re-energized and ready to take on the world once again. Yet while we find our temporary salvation, we forget that there are others out there just trying to get by, and they seemingly cannot escape their prison of stagnation. It is that premise, with a good measure of how oblivious we are to the lives around us that drives the Academy Award winning film; American Beauty.

Lester Burnham is a living ghost. In fact, the daily routine is his only escape from his loveless marriage, estranged relationship from his daughter and the monotony of his job.  It seems that there is no hope for Lester, and no hope for his future, until the beauty of one of his daughter's friends captivates him enough to wake him from his walking coma and send him on a path of redemption.  

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​So, make no mistake about it, this is a motion picture that is extremely heavy handed in its message and design. Now before it sounds like I'm about to bash American Beauty, let me make something clear, I commend this film for going that route. In fact, I'm certain that had this film gone the sweet and subtle route it would have been a boring mess. When a film's tagline is 'Look Closer' there is simply no way that you can expect the audience to pick up on subtle clues about what's going on in a person's day to day life because let's face it, we miss all those things now.  

That's the wonder of this movie. It isn't simply about Lester's redemption or pointing out that we all have to take charge of our lives to be happy.  It's also about the ties that bind us and the fact that so often we are oblivious to the hardships and wonders of the lives that surround us. In fact, it almost lends more power to the tragedy of Lester's story because in the end, his malaise spread to his wife and daughter.  His life didn't just disappear, he did, and that leaves a sense of pity when the end credits roll.  

Lester Burnham is a character who at some point I think it is safe to assume was the rock of his family. That his wife and daughter adored him because of his outlook and his energy and when those proverbial dark clouds gathered, they lost their way as well. It's evident with the affair that his wife takes part in and the sour outlook of his daughter. Jane sees no hope for her father, and in turn believes the world has nothing to offer her. Carolyn sees a man who no longer wants to share life with her or be near her and she closes herself off to him and opens up to another man. It's why this story resonates with us so much. Because it does remind us that there is so much happening around us at any given time and that we do need to take a moment and see what exactly is going on. Because just taking the time to notice someone, be it our family, our friends or even someone who is having that bad day, may be exactly what they need to turn their life around.  ​

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