Remember When We Thought ‘American Beauty’ Was Good?

1999 was such a good movie year that there's even a book about how it might be the best movie year ever. However, 25 years later, what was celebrated then is different from what is remembered most prominently now. The Mummy was critically maligned when released in 1999 and yet it remains a major favorite to this day. The World is Not Enough was a major box office hit, but is now mocked as one of James Bond's most ridiculous films. This dichotomy is perfectly summed up by that year's Academy Awards, which gave the Best Picture gong to... American Beauty?

Though the Academy did embrace Michael Mann's incredible drama The Insider and the undeniable cultural phenomenon The Sixth Sense, the other major performers are far less indicative of 1999. The Green Mile and The Cider House Rules fared as typical adequate Oscar bait, the latter performing well with two wins, but both are largely forgotten. The champion, American Beauty, was a film adored by both critics and audiences, grossing over $300 million at the worldwide box office and winning five Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor. The movie resonated with 1999 audiences, which is strange since it centers around Kevin Spacey trying to sleep with a teenage girl...

What Did People Love About 'American Beauty' in 1999?

The story of Lester Burnham (Spacey) is one of suburban malaise. Lester is unhappy with the life he's been lead to believe he wants with the perfect house and white picket fence because it comes at the cost of a sexless marriage, a dull office job, and a wife (Annette Bening) and daughter (Thora Birch) who think he's a loser. But Lester has an awakening when he sees and begins fantasizing about his daughter's friend, Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari). His obsession inspires him to remove the shackles of his day job, start smoking weed, work out, and not care what his hyper-ambitious type-A wife Carolyn thinks of him. But hovering over the film is Lester's narration directly stating that these are the last weeks of his life. And when his death comes, Lester is mourned because his awakening has led him and the audience to a greater and poetic truth, despite all of his prior actions.

The tagline and oft-repeated phrase in the American Beauty trailer was "Look closer," suggesting a deeper sadness to the reality of "the American dream." Lester seemingly has it all, but still isn't happy with how his life turned out, something many audiences in the 1990s could relate to. The middle class was thriving in an era of economic surplus with the war on terror and recession not even a distant vision. A suburban drama with an everyman at the center casting off the shackles of his life, standing up to the shrew his wife has become, and discovering the secret beauty to life just before he loses it was seemingly aspirational at the time. Not unlike David Lynch scratching beneath the surface with Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks, it's pulling back at the seemingly perfect society, and isn't that exciting?

1999 was also a different time for movies. Audiences would come out for a film without huge special effects or known intellectual property. An Oscar-winning actor teaming up with another movie star was enough to sell a crowd. Not to mention an appetite for prestige movies that has become much more niche in the decades since. A low-key drama with a dark sense of humor didn’t have to be a minor release that would play in a few theaters before heaving to home video in three weeks. In today's cinematic climate, stories are taking a step back from the plights of rich white people, and instead reveling in their misery. We want to see films that eat the rich, not lionize them as poetic prophets of what the secret to a happy life is while they try to sleep with a minor. American Beauty is a relic of a bygone era and cinematic tastes of yesteryear.

Why Is 'American Beauty' Problematic Now?

One of the most peculiar things about American Beauty is how huge it was for a story that seems so minor in retrospect. The majority of the movie is dedicated to a middle-aged man's pursuit of a teenage girl and it wants us to celebrate him in the end. American Beauty might speak to the human condition, but it's from a perspective that seems so foreign in 2024. A nice house hardly seems like a prison when owning a home is a far-off dream for this generation. Working a fast food job doesn't seem like a fun escape when it is a reality for so many in the current economy. With such an extreme political climate, it's hard to invest in the woes of a guy who maybe just needs a career change and couples counseling with his wife. In 2024, a middle-class white man who throws dishes against the wall when his wife interrupts him doesn't exactly spell out "underdog."

Part of the power of American Beauty was tapping into a taboo that is no longer present. There is no way a movie can present a hero as someone lusting after an underage girl, only to be redeemed by not going through with it. What may have been a unique, taboo idea then is just fully criminal now (it was then, but 1999 audiences seemed okay with it), especially given what has since been revealed about Keven Spacey). The aggressive type-A woman is no longer a high-strung menace, but rather a positive force like Leslie Knope. It's also hard to imagine a more pro-LGBTQ society accepting a movie that makes the closeted gay man (Chris Cooper) an abusive father and the murderer of the film's hero ((as well as a potential neo-Nazi). A film now may try to look sympathetically at someone pressured by society to hide who they are only for it to come out in violence, not villainize them.

'American Beauty' Does Hold Some Weight

While it might be hard to look at the film in 2024, some parts of American Beauty may still resonate with audiences. While dated, American Beauty is about a feeling of being trapped in the lives the system around us demands we be forced into. It's not unlike a fellow 1999 film, The Matrix, which takes this idea to the extreme of questioning reality entirely. If anything about American Beauty works today, it's the idea that you can change the life you are unhappy with, not unlike this year's I Saw the TV Glow. American Beauty isn't nearly as radical of change, but it does rather change a sort of perspective in order to affect the world around you. If Fight Club nihilistically suggests burning it all down to start anew, American Beauty responds by saying a reset may be necessary, but let's not forget about what we have that is worth preserving.

American Beauty is available to stream on Paramount+ in the U.S.

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