'Beauty' victory shows voters are ready to embrace new views
03/27/2000

By Philip Wuntch / The Dallas Morning News

The long evening turned out to have a happy ending.

American Beauty, a piercing examination of American life, won Academy Awards for best picture, director Sam Mendes, star Kevin Spacey, screenwriter Alan Ball and cinematographer Conrad Hall.

The critically acclaimed drama was initially considered to be in a tight race with The Cider House Rules, a more traditionally linear film. But as the evening slowly progressed, American Beauty emerged the clear-cut winner.

In major categories, the only American Beauty defeat was by an equally courageous film, Boys Don't Cry, which was filmed in North Texas. Hilary Swank won the best-actress trophy for playing a sexually confused young woman who posed as a man. The true-story film ends with violent tragedy.

"We have come a long way," Ms. Swank said in her acceptance speech. "Years ago, this film could not have been made."

Her words are prophetic. Even if made years ago, the controversial film would definitely have been ignored by academy voters. This year's victory list emphatically states that the academy is willing to embrace confrontational films.

The question remained unanswered until the final moments, as the 72nd annual Academy Awards dragged to its conclusion. At midpoint, the race between American Beauty and The Cider House Rules was difficult to measure. Cider's Michael Caine won the supporting-actor trophy. But his victory would have been more significant had any actor among American Beauty's outstandingsupporting cast also been nominated.

For the Oscar show's first 200 minutes, the merging of old and new was best represented by the noncompetitive award given Warren Beatty and the best-cinematography trophy given Mr. Hall.

Mr. Hall won for the scorching American Beauty, which was strengthened by his intense, imaginative cinematography. No moviegoer will soon forget the film's floating plastic bag or its falling rose petals. Yet Mr. Hall, while an eminently deserving victor, is also a longtime veteran, with many friends among the voting ranks.

Mr. Beatty, a frequently iconoclastic filmmaker who prefers to work unburdened by studio interference, was selected as recipient of the Irving G. Thalberg Award. Yet Mr. Beatty's current persona is one that all the early studio titans would applaud. The former Casanova is now a family man, awaiting the any-minute-now arrival of his fourth child with wife Annette Bening, a best-actress front-runner for American Beauty. In his typically rambling acceptance speech, Mr. Beatty spoke warmly of his home life.

Mr. Mendes, American Beauty's best-director winner, also merged old and new Hollywood by thanking legendary director Billy Wilder, whosemixture of comedy and drama in The Apartment provided the inspiration for Mr. Mendes' direction.

The screenplay awards were split down the middle. Lauded novelist John Irving won best adapted screenplay for transferring his own novel The Cider House Rules to the screen. Mr. Ball was the expected winner of best original screenplay for his outstanding American Beauty.

However, Phil Collins' best-original-song victory for Tarzan's "You'll Be in My Heart" scored a point for traditional Oscar safety, in view of its competition from South Park's raunchy "Blame Canada."

Popular supporting-actress winner Angelina Jolie filled Oscar criteria on several levels. She's second-generation Hollywood (poppa Jon Voight won for Coming Home). Her Girl, Interrupted role allowed her to be sassy and psychotic, two qualities that Hollywood loves, especially when the sassy psychotic is incarcerated. And she's at the beginning of what should be a strong career. Plus, she gave a stirring performance in what might be called a foolproof role.

Ms. Jolie's victory emphasizes the thinness of the borders that separate supporting and major acting ranks. Ms. Jolie's role in Girl, Interrupted was only marginally smaller than that of nominal star Winona Ryder. In their mutual scenes, Ms. Jolie dominated Ms. Ryder - not just by virtue of her performance, but also by virtue of dialogue and camera placement.

Mr. Caine's best-supporting-actor win for The Cider House Rules was also anticipated. Mr. Caine played one of the year's most lovable characters, a kind and eccentric orphanage supervisor, and his award was possibly by way of placating the mushrooming Cider House Rules faction. Even without Miramax's strenuous ad campaign in trade papers, Mr. Caine deserved recognition for his graceful underplaying of an emotional role.

The disappointment of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace was reinforced when the much-hyped George Lucas spectacle lost to the surprise hit The Matrix in three technical categories. The Star Wars prequel went home Oscarless, possibly a victim of its own publicity or possibly just not that deserving.