|
|
|
 |
 |
|
May 22, 2000 |
INDIA TODAY | DAILY NEWS | ASTROLOGY | HOME |
 |
 |
|
 The Movie Review American
Beauty After
the Oscar hype, here comes the film. It's been described as the story of a
dysfunctional American family. That's sort of understating the case. This
year's multiple-Oscar-winning American Beauty is about a family that just
doesn't seem to get anything right. Think about it: Lester Burnham, played
by the immensely talented Kevin Spacey, is in a dead-end marriage with the
career-obsessed, high-strung Carolyn played by the equally talented Bening.
While he falls for his teenaged daughter Jane's gorgeous friend Angela, he
also takes to drugs, supplied to him by his homophobic new neighbour's
junkie son, who ends up sleeping with Jane while Lester nearly sleeps with
Angela, Carolyn sleeps with a professional rival and, somewhere along the
way, the homophobe turns homosexual and falls for Lester. Sounds like The
Bold and the Beautiful or Santa Barbara? Well, let's just say that despite
the inconsistent script, it's got a lot more polish and class. It's also
got some stunningly pretty visuals -- like the aerial view of Angela in a
pool of blood-red petals -- and a sense of humour. Spacey is funny as the
loser who takes to pumping iron to impress the object of his desire;
funnier still when he quits his job and nonchalantly blackmails his
employer into giving him an impressive severance package. Suvari is
coolly, icily sexual as Angela, a disturbing and sadly amusing modern-day
version of Nabokov's Lolita. But that transition from tickling the funny
bone to tugging at the heartstrings simply does not happen. We know, we
know, it's about the decay that's set in American society and the loss of
family values, but this psycho-social drama wrapped in comedy with its
intended intensity is too far removed perhaps from the Indian reality to
strike a chord here. In the choice between The Insider and American Beauty
for this year's Best Film Oscar, here's one vote that would have gone to
The Insider.
-Anna
M.M. Vetticad |
|
BUSINESS TODAY | INDIA TODAY PLUS | COMPUTERS TODAY Write to us | Subscriptions | Advertise with
us |
