Won't get to get what I'm after . . .

American Beauty

(1999)

Ah, what better moment to die that when feeling really good about oneself and, for the first time in memory, about life itself?

It's possible a sticker fell off, but if not, it had been nearly 8 years since I'd screened this, and as it has shown me before, when I give it a little time, I can fall in love with it all over again. Yes, it's a little inflated in spots; yes, Annette Bening's remarkable work is in service of a character with about as much emotional depth as Godzilla; I don't care. The beatific smile on Kevin Spacey's face when his Lester Burnham realizes how good he feels for having done one right thing after several self-affirming things covers a multitude of sins, as does what might be Chris Cooper's best performance ever (tall cotton, that) as Lester's tightly wound Marine colonel neighbor.

And has anyone seen a plastic bag dancing in the wind in the past 13 years without thinking of this film?