American Beauty (1999)
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88% of critics liked it
(155 reviews) -
90% of users liked it
(572,226 ratings)
Noted theater director Sam Mendes, who was responsible for the acclaimed 1998 revival of Cabaret and Nicole Kidman's turn in The Blue Room, made his motion picture debut with this film about the dark side of an American family, and about the nature and price of beauty in a culture obsessed with… More Noted theater director Sam Mendes, who was responsible for the acclaimed 1998 revival of Cabaret and Nicole Kidman's turn in The Blue Room, made his motion picture debut with this film about the dark side of an American family, and about the nature and price of beauty in a culture obsessed with outward appearances. Kevin Spacey plays Lester Burnham, a man in his mid-40s going through an intense midlife crisis; he's grown cynical and is convinced that he has no reason to go on. Lester's relationship with his wife Carolyn (Annette Bening) is not a warm one; while on the surface Carolyn strives to present the image that she's in full control of her life, inside she feels empty and desperate. Their teenage daughter Jane (Thora Birch) is constantly depressed, lacking in self-esteem, and convinced that she's unattractive. Her problems aren't helped by her best friend Angela (Mena Suvari), an aspiring model who is quite beautiful and believes that that alone makes her a worthwhile person. Jane isn't the only one who has noticed that Angela is attractive: Lester has fallen into uncontrollable lust for her, and she becomes part of his drastic plan to change his body and change his life. Meanwhile, next door, Colonel Fitts (Chris Cooper) has spent a lifetime in the Marine Corps and can understand and tolerate no other way of life, which makes life difficult for his son Ricky (Wes Bentley), an aspiring filmmaker and part-time drug dealer who is obsessed with beauty, wherever and whatever it may be. American Beauty was also the screen debut for screenwriter Alan Ball. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- Sam Mendes
- Written By
- Alan Ball
- Genres
- Drama, Comedy
- In Theaters
- Oct 1, 1999 Wide
- Studio
- Dream Works
Critic Reviews
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David Denby, New Yorker
This amazing and impassioned fantasia about American loneliness begins as satire and ends with a vision of the sublime.
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Andrew Sarris, New York Observer
As the latest mainstream movie symptom of our premillennial malaise, American Beauty is so brilliantly acted, written, directed and visualized that for all its despondency and despair, it is a lot of fun.
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Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Director Mendes guides an artful path between desire and self-disgust, playing youth against experience, male against female.
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Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle
A great, tremendously entertaining experience. I only wish there were more films this satisfying.
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Rick Groen, Globe and Mail
This is definitely a knife-to-the-heart movie -- the kind whose potent effect is easy to feel yet hard to describe.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Kevin Spacey
as Lester Burnham
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Annette Bening
as Caroline Burnham
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Thora Birch
as Jane Burnham
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Wes Bentley
as Ricky Fitts
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Mena Suvari
as Angela Hayes
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Chris Cooper
as Colonel Fitts
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Peter Gallagher
as Buddy Kane
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Allison Janney
as Barbara Fitts
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Scott Bakula
as Jim Olmeyer
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Sam Robards
as Jim Berkley
- Marissa Jaret Winokur
- Amber Smith
- Ara Celi
- John Cho
- Matthew Kimbrough
- Sue Casey



