The Ten Best Films of 1999
01. American Beauty
The best film of 1999 was the decade's last great entry in the genre it will become known for: the black comedy. Deserving of its place alongside "Pulp Fiction" and "Fargo," Sam Mendes' transcendent "American Beauty" chronicles the Burnhams, a suburban American family drowning in their own polished miseries. Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Wes Bentley and Thora Birch all shine in this astute, clever, and ultimately moving tale of the dangers of trading our loves for our lusts and forsaking that which is truly important. "American Beauty" finished out a renegade decade for world cinema in high style.
02. The Straight Story
After his skewering of American suburbia in 1986's "Blue Velvet," you'd hardly expect a love letter to Americana from bizarro director David Lynch. But that's just what we got in 1999: a G-rated slice-of-life telling the true story of Alvin Straight, an elderly man who traveled from Iowa to Wisconsin to visit his estranged, ailing brother--via riding lawn mower. As Alvin, veteran character actor Richard Farnsworth etches a fascinating portrait of a man in the twilight of life with the resolve of a pit bull. He also has one monologue about World War II that is more powerful than anything in "Saving Private Ryan." Couple that with fine support from Sissy Spacek as Straight's daughter, and director Lynch has made a quiet triumph.
03. Run Lola Run
The most frenetic and energized movie since "Pulp Fiction." Tom Tykwer's German import features a potent Franka Potente as Lola, a young woman with 20 minutes to come up with $100,000 to save her boyfriend's life. The film, a technical marvel, spins this tale in real-time three times over, with slight plot alterations resulting in drastically different conclusions each time. "Run Lola Run" may signal the future of renegade action cinema, as shocking and unmissable as Lola's fire-red hair.
04. Boys Don't Cry
The debut film from Kimberly Peirce is an American tragedy almost too devastating to witness, though impossible to look away from. Hilary Swank delivers one of the year's best performances as Teena Brandon, a woman living life as a boy named Brandon Teena, in backwater early-'90s Nebraska. Teena falls for the naive Lana (Chloe Sevigny), another young woman whose dreamy spell is on a crash course with harsh reality. Director Peirce and co-screenwriter Andy Bienen have fashioned an unforgettable film.
05. Election
The smartest political film of the year had nothing to do with Washington D.C., but rather a much more cut-throat arena: high school. Straight-A nightmare Tracy Flick (the sublime Reese Witherspoon) is running unopposed for senior class president. That is, until harried teacher Matthew Broderick (a long way from "Ferris Bueller") starts recruiting some competition for her. Director Alexander Payne plays all this for huge laughs in a black comedy that skewers everyone in its sights, to uproarious results.
06. All About My Mother
Spanish maverick Pedro Almodovar isn't known for his subtlety or maturity, yet both traits find their place among his usual shenanigans in "All About My Mother," a celebration of femininity and maternalcy. After her teenage son is killed right in front of her, the luminous Cecelia Roth makes her way through Spain, struggling for a reason to keep on going. She finds more than one, as Almodovar plunges head first into the mammoth movie mysteries of understanding a woman.
07. Being John Malkovich
You'd be hard pressed to name another movie in recent years that is as painstakingly original as Spike Jonze's "Being John Malkovich," a film so wired and wonderful that not once can you predict where it will take you next. John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, and Catherine Keener are excellent as the custodians of a portal that takes other people inside the brain of actor John Malkovich, but it's Malkovich who finds the role of a lifetime: himself.
08. The Insider
The re-creation of the events surrounding the life of Jeffrey Wigand, the notorious tobacco industry whistleblower, made for a crackling indictment of big business and provided director Michael Mann with his best film ever. Russell Crowe transforms himself as the man who finds his entire life under fire, and Al Pacino gives his best performance of the 1990s as the "60 Minutes" producer who both helped and hurt his source. "The Insider" is an unusually smart Hollywood docudrama.
09. The End of the Affair
Neil Jordan's "The End of the Affair," adapted from the Graham Greene novel, is a special film for two reasons: 1) it's actually a movie for grownups, and 2) it's a rare love story about more than the lovers. In this World War II romance, the characters of Ralph Fiennes and Julianne Moore both are forced to question their spirituality: something rarely ever discussed in a major studio film, and even less this compellingly.
10. The Iron Giant
I don't ever want to hear a parent gripe again about the lack of quality family films these days. Brad Bird's "The Iron Giant," an animated triumph about a 1950s boy who befriends a 100-foot metal giant from another world, was a complete box office failure, suggesting that unless it bears the Disney name, parents won't bother. The few people who did bother with this enchanting adventure were rewarded with the best family film of the year.
Copyright 1999 - Danny Linton
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