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American Beauty

Oscar™ Best Picture - Winning Movies

7.9

167,256

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Original title: American Beauty
Year: 1999
Running time: 122 min.
Country: United States
Director: Sam Mendes
Screenwriter: Alan Ball
Music: Thomas Newman
Cinematography: Conrad L. Hall
Cast: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Allison Janney, Peter Gallagher, Mena Suvari, Wes Bentley, Chris Cooper, Scott Bakula, Sam Robards, Barry Del Sherman
Producer: DreamWorks SKG
Genre: Drama. Comedy | Comedy-Drama. Family Relationships. Satire. Cult Movie
Synopsis / Plot: Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is a middle aged man suffering from a mid-life crisis. He has an epiphany when he lays his eyes on one of his daughter Jane's friends. Woken from his suburban coma, he takes it upon himself to make a few changes -- like quitting his job and buying the car of his dreams. His wife, Carolyn (Annette Bening), is a frustrated control freak who is only maddened by his escalating freedom, and his daughter (Thora Birch) just plain hates him. His wife's reaction to the situation is to fall in the arms of a colleague (Peter Gallagher). The chaos in the neighborhood becomes more complicated with the arrival of an equally dysfunctional family consisting of a stern ex-Marine, his vacuous wife and their detached, drug-dealing son Ricky, who becomes involved with Jane.

Awards: 1999: 5 Academy Awards: Movie, Director, Actor (Kevin Spacey), Screenplay, Cinematography. 8 Nominations

1999: 3 Golden Globes: Best Movie - Drama, Director, Screenplay. 6 Nominations

1999: 6 BAFTA Awards, including Best Movie and Actor (Spacey). 14 Nominations

1999: Cesar Awards: Nominated for Best Foreign Language Picture

1999: David di Donatello Awards: Nominated for Best Foreign Film

1999: 2 Awards National Board of Review: Best Movie, Actor (Wes Bentley)

Show 10 more awards

1999: Festival Toronto: Best Director (Sam Mendes), Audience Award

1999: Los Angeles Film Critics Association: Best Director. 4 Nominations

1999: Chicago Film Critics Awards: 4 Awards, including Best Picture. 7 Nom.

1999: New York Film Critics Circle: Nominated for Best Film & Best First Film

1999: Critics Choice Awards: Best Picture, Director & Original Screenplay

1999: Boston Society of Film Critics Awards: Nominated for Best Film & Actor (Spacey)

1999: Producers Guild Awards (PGA): Best Film

1999: Directors Guild of America (DGA): Best Director

1999: Writers Guild of America (WGA): Best Original Screenplay

1999: Screen Actors Guild (SAG): Best Cast, Actor (Spacey) & Actress (Bening)

Critics' reviews

"The kind of artful defiance that Hollywood is usually too timid to deliver: a jolting comedy that makes you laugh till it hurts"

Peter Travers: Rolling Stone
"An acerbic, darkly comic critique of how social conventions can lead people into false, sterile and emotionally stunted lives"

Todd McCarthy: Variety
"You know you're in the hands of a true filmmaker when you feel invited, at every turn, to share his sense of entrancement. I got that feeling in just about every frame of 'American Beauty'"

Owen Gleiberman: Entertainment Weekly
"A film of such rich complexity, maturity, revelation, subtlety and paradox that you just have to experience it for yourself"

Rex Reed: The New York Observer
"A great, tremendously entertaining experience. I only wish there were more films this satisfying"

Edward Guthmann: SFGATE
"'American Beauty' is a comedy because we laugh at the absurdity of the hero's problems. And a tragedy because we can identify with his failure (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"

Roger Ebert: rogerebert.com
"Kevin Spacey in his wittiest and most agile screen performance yet (...) [It] strikes an unusually successful balance between the mordant and bright."

Janet Maslin: The New York Times
Show 3 more reviews

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