Plot
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, RoviReview
A darkly comic critique of suburban stupor with a measured touch of redemption, American Beauty became the most laureled film of 1999. As written by Alan Ball and directed by theatre wunderkind/film neophyte Sam Mendes, the tale of Lester Burnham's final year of life keenly delves into the repressed desires, rampant materialism, skewed values, and gnawing insecurities lurking behind the crisply manicured lawns and meticulously decorated houses lining Any Street, USA. Anchored by Kevin Spacey's gleefully sardonic yet sensitively attuned performance as doomed "seeker" Lester, the superb ensemble cast of adults and teens (including Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Chris Cooper and newcomers Wes Bentley and Mena Suvari) navigate the myriad dysfunctions with wit and flashes of pathos. Complementing the voiced desire for some kind of escape, Lester's and video voyeur Ricky Fitts' search for beauty in the mundane, whether in rose petal-strewn dreams or grainy images of a dancing bag, is given luminous life by veteran cinematographer Conrad L. Hall. Despite the complaint from a few critics that it did not truly "look closer" at the terrain previously covered by The Ice Storm (1997), Happiness (1998), and Blue Velvet (1986), American Beauty garnered several critics' circle prizes and a fistful of Golden Globes on the way to winning the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Cinematography. ~ Lucia Bozzola, RoviCast
- Kevin Spacey - Lester Burnham
- Annette Bening - Caroline Burnham
- Thora Birch - Jane Burnham
- Wes Bentley - Ricky Fitts
- Mena Suvari - Angela Hayes
- Chris Cooper - Colonel Fitts
Credit
David S. Lazan - Art Director, Debra Zane - Casting, Stan Wlodkowski - Co-producer, Alan Ball - Co-producer, Julie Weiss - Costume Designer, Tony Adler - First Assistant Director, E. Carey Dietrich - First Assistant Director, Sam Mendes - Director, Christopher Greenbury - Editor, Tariq Anwar - Editor, Thomas Newman - Composer (Music Score), Chris Douridas - Musical Direction/Supervision, Naomi Shohan - Production Designer, Conrad L. Hall - Cinematographer, Bruce Cohen - Producer, Dan Jinks - Producer, Jan K. Bergstrom - Set Designer, Richard van Dyke - Sound/Sound Designer, Scott Martin Gershin - Sound Editor, Alan Ball - Screenwriter, Hilton Ruiz - Musical Performer, Bob Beemer - Re-Recording Mixer, Robert "Bobby Z" Zajonc - Pilot| American Beauty (1916 Film), American Beauty (1927 Film) | |
| American Beer (1996 Film), American Beer (2003 Film) |
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