Queer Review: American Beauty

American Beauty
Director: Sam Mendes
Writer: Alan Ball
Cast: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, Mena Suvari, Chris Cooper, Peter Gallagher, Allison Janney, Scott Bakula, Sam Robards

Overview
The critically acclaimed debut of Sam Mendes, American Beauty features the mid-life crisis of a man trapped in a stale relationship. It is also one of my favorite black comedies (after Fight Club) and also is one of the most aggressive gay propaganda films ever made.

Synopsis
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is stuck in a dead end job, while stuck in a dead end marriage where his wife, Carolyn (Annette Bening) and daughter Jane (Thora Birch) both hate him. What breaks Lester out of the catatonic state he is in is developing an infatuation for Jane's friend, Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari). This disgusts Jane, who at the same time is being stalked by the boy next door Ricky Fitts (Wes Bentley). Ricky's parents are nearly as dysfunctional, his dad, Col. Frank Fitts (Chris Cooper) is extremely paranoid and his mom, Barbara (Allison Janney) resembles the living dead. Further complicating matters is Carolyn, fed up with Lester's behaviour, starts having an affair with Buddy "The King" Kane (Peter Gallagher).

The Queering
As I said at the beginning, this movie represents of one of the most aggressive gay propaganda films ever made. All of the usual stereotypes are completely reversed. That is any of the negative traits typically associated with queer characters, are given to the heterosexual ones.

All of the character who engages in straight behavior suffer from a variety of mental health issues, such as self loathing, body image problems, depression, paranoia, or are outright catatonic. These characters are also either repressed control freaks, shallow, vain, and self obsessed, engage in Nazi idolation, engage in abnormal behaviors such as the filming of dead birds and floating garbage, promote and express bigotry, and commit adultery, and that was just a list of the legal activities.

The illegal behaviors include an attempt at statutory (or what might be statutory) rape, the dealing and abuse of illegal drugs, driving while under the influence of those drugs, obsessive stalking, blackmail and extortion of an employer, prostitution, and tax fraud. And I have not even gotten started on the numerous characters that plot, discuss, and make plans to commit homicide that actually occurs.

Furthermore, both Jane and Ricky are also subjected to various forms of psychological, verbal, and even physical abuse at the hands of their heterosexual, adulterous, and murderous parents.

Meanwhile the gay couple, Jim and Jim (Scott Bakula and Sam Robards) is cheerfully normal, well adjusted, and more than willing to give exercise tips or deliver a "welcome to the neighborhood" basket to a new neighbor.

Otherwise, this an extremely well acted, superbly directed, smartly written flick. The cinematography, particularly the use of medium and close up shots, is noteworthy. There is not a technical element that is not executed perfectly.

The late 90's gave birth to a remarkable era of cinema. The year 1999 was particularly fertile. Magnolia, Fight Club, Being John Malkovich, Boys Don't Cry, The Matrix, The Blair Witch Project, and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace were all released in that year. Some critics may argue that the last film does not belong, but I would not argue that American Beauty is the equal or better of all of them.

Recommendation
Strongly recommended.

The Rating

Trailer


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Queer Review: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Director: Clint Eastwood
Writer: John Lee Hancock based upon the novel by John Berendt
Cast: John Cusack, Kevin Spacey, Jack Thompson, Irma P. Hall, Lady Chablis, Jude Law, Alison Eastwood, Paul Hipp, Geoffrey Lewis

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a slow moving character study, that is if we consider the place of Savannah, Georgia to be a character in of itself. The movie is based upon the book of the same title by John Berendt, which tells the story of his experiences in the town during a high profile murder investigation.

Jim Williams (Kevin Spacey) is a wealthy and closeted gay man, whose annual high profile Christmas party is being covered by John Kelso (John Cusack) for a magazine article that Kelso was commissioned to write. Shortly before Kelso was planning to fly back to New York, a shocking event in the form of Williams shooting and killing his young lover Billy Hanson (Jude Law) - makes Kelso decide to stay and investigate these events in the hopes of writing a book. Williams claims that he acted in self defense, but that does not prevent a murder trial from commencing where Williams sexual orientation could sway a jury towards rendering a guilty verdict.

While John Kelso aids Williams defense teams, he meets and gets to know Savannah's colorful cast of characters. There's Lady Chablis (played by herself) a flamboyant female transgendered performer, Minerva (Irma P. Hall) a mysterious Voodoo practitioner, Joe Odom (Paul Hipp) a high class squatter, and Luther Driggers (Geoffrey Lewis) a man who keeps flies as pets and carries a bottle that he claims contains enough poison to kill everyone in Savannah. Kelso also meets and woos Mandy Nicholls (Alison Eastwood) a character not found in the novel.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil moves slowly, arguably too slowly at times. Eastwood directs with a steady hand, establishing a moody atmosphere and capably depicts the colorful cast of characters. The film's stumbling block comes in the final third when the plot gets dragged down with the details of Williams trial. The film's strongest sections are where Kelso meets and gets to know Savannah's colorful citizenry. Once the grand jury has delivered the indictment, the film becomes moribund in familiar movie trial tropes and trivial details.

Acting wise, Lady Chablis is a standout, providing a memorably sassy performance. Kevin Spacey is also very good playing a rich Southern dandy with a subtle flamboyance and just the right amount of ambiguity. John Cusack tends to have trouble distinguishing himself amongst the more colorful cast, but that is not a problem as the role does not require him to do much. His character is mostly a witness to the events and it is not until later on in the proceedings that he becomes directly involved.

Overall, I feel confident recommending Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil in spite of the flawed later sections as it does not entirely obscure the films strengths. This is a pleasant movie with interesting characters and that also touches upon some deeper themes.