I don’t have a whole lot of heroes from the writing world of motion pictures, as often they are writer-directors (Paul Thomas Anderson and Wes Craven) and just simply directors (Alfred Hitchcock and John Carpenter). But back in 1999, when I settled down in my uncomfortable chair in the third row at the Park Lane 16 cineplex in Reno, Nevada, I witnessed a new hero on screen. I had never heard of him before. I knew nothing of his background. But at the end, I wanted to get up and cheer at the sight of his name. Alan Ball.

Alan Ball? Who? Who the hell was this guy? I went home and looked him up on the Internet. All he had really done before American Beauty (his first produced screenplay) was some writing work on television shows like Cybill and Roseanne. Apparently Ball would spend his long days working on these dreadful TV shows, then go home at night and dive into his script for American Beauty. Thank God he did. During those nights he crafted one of the finest screenplays ever conceived, and the finished film turned out to be better than he or probably anyone ever could have imagined.

What was next for Alan Ball? Certainly it wouldn’t take another nine years for his next screenplay to be produced. Actually, it would. Thankfully we had a marvelous and near-perfect television show on HBO entitled Six Feet Under to make the waiting period for his next movie a little bit easier. A show that took place at a funeral home promised a lot and gave us everything we could have hoped for in terms of drama, character development, ultra sadness, and never-ending twists (not to mention some of the most insane death scenes ever) for five season from 2001 to 2005.

I remember getting to see the series finale of Six Feet Under right before heading off to study abroad in Duesseldorf, Germany for four months. The last ten minutes of the last episode is so heart-breaking and cathartic for fans of the series that I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. And the climactic moment of the show was pure magic in relation to my life, as I was about to embark on a brand new journey of my own.

So we didn’t hear much from Ball for a couple years, but then there was the exciting news that he was writing and, for the first time, directing a new feature based on a novel called Towelhead. It premiered at the 2007 Toronto Film Festival to mixed reviews and then disappeared for awhile. The release date bounced around a little bit, I heard that Ball went back to the editing room to tool around with some things and make the film shorter, and the wait time got the to point of becoming unbearable.

For fans of Ball, the fall of 2008 promised great things. Within five days of each other, we were getting not only his first film since American Beauty, but also his first television series since Six Feet Under entitled True Blood. Given that my favorite TV show of all time is Buffy the Vampire Slayer and his new show dealt with vampires, and given that my favorite film (now next to Sunset Boulevard) is American Beauty and his new film dealt with similar themes, the beginning of September marked a happy time for me.

The premiere of True Blood came first. While nowhere near as deep and complex as Six Feet Under, there is a charm to True Blood that becomes more and more infectious as the first season goes on. Now with just two more episodes to go before the season finale, two of my friends and I are hooked. While I watch it knowing it’s nowhere near a perfect show, it is grand entertainment, and the show has definitely grown on me in the last two months.

The opening weekend of Towelhead came just a few days later and sitting down for the first Alan Ball movie since American Beauty was a surreal experience. The word on the film was still mixed, the audience in the theatre that night was very sparse, and the knot in my stomach seemed to be telling me that maybe Ball had missed… well.. the ball this time. Thankfully that isn’t the case.

Towelhead is a spellbinding movie, one with its flaws for sure, but one that only comes around once or twice a year. It’s a similar formula to American Beauty, taking us into the lives of a group of people in the suburbs and revealing the hidden scars, eccentricities, and fears of these people. Featuring a cast that includes Aaron Eckart, Maria Bello, and the sublime Toni Collette, the two-hour-plus movie just left me wanting more.

The films tells a coming-of-age story about a 13-year-old Arab-American girl named Jasira (Summer Bishil) who goes to stay with her Lebanese father Rifat (Peter Macdissi), who the neighbors in this suburb regard as an alien or potential terrorist. Nearby neighbors include the married Travis (Aaron Eckhart) who starts to develop a strange attraction to Jasira and the dutiful and pregnant Melina (Toni Collette) who finds herself looking out for the vulnerable Jasira.

Is this movie startling, even shocking at times? Oh, hell yes! And what do I say to that? So what? As long as the shocks serve a purpose to the story, I’m all for them. While this is one of the most uncomfortable movies to watch that I’ve seen in years, it is a spellbinding viewing experience. Everything that happens to Jasira has happened to a young girl one time or another in this country I’m sure. Ball isn’t try to shock the audience just for its own sake. This is a movie about a young girl’s sexual awakening, and these awkward moments of self discovery are necessary to her development, both sexually and emotionally.

The performances in the film are all stellar. Eckhart, hot off of his memorable turn in The Dark Knight, plays not a child molester but a man confused by his attraction to this young girl. He’s clearly a decent guy who merely has his own demons to contend with, and we see that through Eckhart’s sympathetic portrayal. Collette is a welcome addition as usual, playing the kind of caring next-door-neighbor most of us had as kids, and Bello provides a handful of memorable scenes as Jasira’s passionate and hateful estranged mother.

But the heart of the movie, and the two performances that really shine, are by Macdissi and Bishil. So great on Six Feet Under, Macdissi here gets to play the father figure we vehemently despise, but he does it in a way that’s understandably shaped by the vulnerabilities he feels as an American citizen, surrounded by those who fear him. Bishil, in her film debut, gives a startling and mature performance as a young girl trying to find herself amidst a physically violent father and a physically sexual older neighbor. The director took a big risk choosing an unknown for this role, but she is natural and real throughout every heart-wrenching moment.

I’ll admit that Towelhead is not an easy movie to watch and it’s not for everyone, but it’s nothing short of fascinating. I’ve been a big fan of films that delves deep into the demons of middle-class-America ever since American Beauty, continuing into small masterpieces like A History of Violence and Little Children. While Towelhead isn’t in the same league as those two movies, and it doesn’t come close to the brilliance of American Beauty, it is an outstanding film that proves the power of Alan Ball as a writer and gives great promise for Ball as a director.

After experiencing the great joys of American Beauty, Six Feet Under, True Blood, and now Towelhead over the last ten years, all I can say is this. Alan Ball, you are my hero. As a brilliant writer, a superb director, and a beautiful, articulate, and intelligent gay man, you are nothing less than my hero. You have made my life all the more enriched through your art, and I thank you, from the bottom of my heart.