American Beauty (1999 film)

American Beauty
American Beauty
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Sam Mendes
Written by	Alan Ball
Produced by	Bruce Cohen; Dan Jinks;
Starring	Kevin Spacey; Annette Bening; Thora Birch; Allison Janney; Peter Gallagher; Mena Suvari; Wes Bentley; Chris Cooper;
Cinematography	Conrad L. Hall
Edited by	Tariq Anwar; Christopher Greenbury;
Music by	Thomas Newman
Production; company	Jinks/Cohen Company
Distributed by	DreamWorks Pictures
Release dates	September 8, 1999 (Grauman's Egyptian Theatre); September 17, 1999 (United States);
Running time	122 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$15 million
Box office	$356.3 million

American Beauty is a 1999 American psychological dark comedy-drama film written by Alan Ball and directed by Sam Mendes in his feature directorial debut. Kevin Spacey stars as Lester Burnham, an advertising executive who has a midlife crisis when he becomes infatuated with his teenage daughter's best friend, played by Mena Suvari. Annette Bening stars as Lester's materialistic wife, Carolyn, and Thora Birch plays their insecure daughter, Jane. Wes Bentley, Chris Cooper, and Allison Janney co-star. Academics have described the film as satirizing how beauty and personal satisfaction are perceived by the American middle class; further analysis has focused on the film's explorations of romantic and paternal love, sexuality, materialism and self-liberation.

After being filmed in California from December 1998 to February 1999, American Beauty was released by DreamWorks Pictures in North America on September 17, 1999, receiving widespread critical and popular acclaim, but its critical standing has since waned significantly. It was the second-best-reviewed American film of the year behind Being John Malkovich and grossed over $350 million worldwide against its $15-million budget, becoming the ninth highest-grossing film of 1999. DreamWorks launched a major campaign to increase American Beauty's chances of Oscar success following its controversial Best Picture snub for Saving Private Ryan (1998) the previous year.

At the 72nd Academy Awards, the film won five Oscars, including Best Picture, along with Best Director for Mendes, Best Actor for Spacey, Best Original Screenplay for Ball, and Best Cinematography for Hall. The film was nominated for and won many other awards and honors, mainly for directing, writing, and acting.

^ "American Beauty". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on July 14, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
^ ^a ^b "American Beauty (1999)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved September 22, 2011.

[1] "American Beauty". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on July 14, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2015.

[Mojo-2] "American Beauty (1999)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved September 22, 2011.

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