Anyone with eyes like this kid deserves to be seen on the big screen. It's fitting that Wes is at the top of the THAT GUY list, as he's the neophyte That Guy in the group. Though the Academy Award winning American Beauty is now disputed by some as a bit overrated (though we disagree), nobody argues over the unforgettable performance of Wes Bentley as Kevin Spacey's drug dealing teenaged neighbor Ricky Fitts, who supplies Spacey with high-quality pot while romancing his troubled young daughter. Young Ricky, who lives in a family that doesn't put the "fun" in dysfunctional, is creepily charming in his ill-fitting clothes and intense appreciation of the beauty in ordinary things, such as a dead bird or a plastic bag blowing in the wind. Bentley, who won several film review board awards for his performance, generates authentic emotions and even real tears when he describes seeing "so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it, like my heart's going to cave in.", or when he tearfully begs his abusive, repressed homosexual father not to give up on him.
Born in Arkansas, Bentley seems intent on not going in the direction of other actors in his age group, choosing to stay away from puerile T&A garbage like Road Trip and Dude, Where's My Car?, and not pursuing guest spots on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Bizarro Ricky Fitts seems to be the most benign role he's chosen so far, considering his other roles have included one of Oprah Winfrey's rapists in Beloved, and a serial killer in The White River Kid. Nevertheless, whether he continues on the admirable career path he's chosen so far, or does decide to take a role in American Pie II, Bentley will probably always be best remembered for his role in American Beauty, for THOSE EYES, for the brief smile of understanding he flashes when he realizes that through death Kevin Spacey has been set free, and for when he tells the impossibly beautiful Mena Suvari that she's ugly, boring, and ordinary. Go, Wes! |
