`AMERICAN BEAUTY' MAY RESTORE YOUR FAITH IN MOVIES.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic

A disturbing, searing and painfully funny look at American life at the end of the 20th century, ``American Beauty'' begins with an overhead shot of an idyllic suburban tract and a voice-over from Kevin Spacey that explains much of what is to come: ``My name is Lester Burnham. This is my neighborhood. This is my street. This is my life. In less than a year, I'll be dead. Of course, I don't know that yet. In a way, I'm dead already.''

Lester, brilliantly played by Spacey, is anything but self-aware. But early in the film, he experiences a moment of awakening that causes him to realize that his whole life is a sham. And Lester understands that he can't fake it any more. Life is too short. So he makes up his mind to do what he wants and say how he feels - and he'll deal with the repercussions, one by one, as they come.

And, indeed, the reverberations from Lester's stirring are many and far-reaching. In his marriage and in his neighborhood, Lester is surrounded by people trapped in deep, intense denial. These lost, lonely souls try to beat back the encroaching isolation by acquiring the appropriate things, looking the right way and conforming with cultural definition of normalcy. Underneath it all, though, they are in solitary confinement with no possibility of parole.

With a remarkable resonance, ``American Beauty'' is able to capture all this angst in ways that are both touching and hilarious, agonizing and amusing. It hovers constantly between a laugh and a tear, often prompting both responses in the same moment. This movie is an absolute gem, unlike any film we've seen this year or, for that matter, any other.

Lester, when we meet him after that introductory voice-over, lives in a world he loathes. His job (he has spent 14 years writing for a media magazine) is soul-shattering; his marriage numbingly soulless. Lester's wife, Carolyn (Annette Bening), seems from outward appearances to be the picture of fulfillment. But she's more obsessed with the image of success than with the actual rewards of prosperity. Their teen-age daughter, Jane (Thora Birch), hates both of them, largely (and correctly) believing that she's an afterthought in their lives.

The Burnhams aren't the only ones grasping at straws in ``American Beauty.'' Jane's Lolita-like friend, Angela (``American Pie's'' Mena Suvari) hides her insecurities behind her overt sexuality, which she trains on Lester after meeting him. Next door lives a cold, retired Marine colonel (Chris Cooper, heart-wrenching), his catatonic wife (Allison Janney) and son, Ricky (Wes Bentley), a former mental patient who doesn't participate in life as much as watch it through the lens of a video camera.

The only happy people in this anonymous suburb seem to be the gay couple (Scott Bakula and Sam Robards) who the give the colonel's homophobia a good workout as they jog by every morning. (Nothing like that on the military base.)

These characters continually defy any and all presumptions, which is one of the many outstanding things about Alan Ball's utterly original screenplay. Likable one moment, reprehensible the next, everyone here resists judgment and condescension. These are fully realized human beings, with all the messy virtues and faults that go along with that status.

Director Sam Mendes, a Broadway veteran making his feature-film debut here, gives the movie a stunning visual fluidity, full of knockout imagery and artful subtlety. (Veteran cinematographer Conrad Hall was undoubtedly a help.) Mendes' genius is also evident in the performances he wrings out of his cast: Spacey, completely convincing as the Everyman, thoroughly winning with his pitch-perfect comic timing; Birch, a revelation as the vulnerable daughter; and Bentley, devastating, playing the lonely boy next door.

You would expect a movie with all this anger, rage and desolation to be a pretty grim affair, yet, out of the heartbreak, come scenes of bracing comedy, exhilaration and, finally, hope. We may know that Lester is going to die, but his journey is one of the most compelling, surprising and enjoyable cinematic voyages we've seen in quite some time.

THE FACTS

The film: ``American Beauty'' (R; strong sexuality, violence, language and drug content).

The stars: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, Mena Suvari.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Sam Mendes. Screenplay by Alan Ball. Released by DreamWorks Pictures.

Running time: Two hours, two minutes.

Playing: AMC Century 14 in Century City. Cineplex Beverly Center in West Hollywood. AMC Santa Monica 7 Theatres.

Our rating: Four stars.

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Photo

Photo: In ``American Beauty,'' next-door neighbor Ricky's video-camera lens captures a confrontation between magazine writer Lester (Kevin Spacey) and daughter Jane (Thora Birch).