American Beauty

R

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2 hr. 2 min.

Comedy

Drama

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List

87%

192 Reviews

Tomatometer

93%

250,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is a gainfully employed suburban husband and father. Fed up with his boring, stagnant existence, he quits his job and decides to reinvent himself as a pot-smoking, responsibility-shirking teenager. What follows is at once cynical, hysterical, and, eventually, tragically uplifting.

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Critics Consensus

Flawlessly cast and brimming with dark, acid wit, American Beauty is a smart, provocative high point of late '90s mainstream Hollywood film.

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Pedro G

Excelente película, una gran cinta romántica con toques de comedia. Esta película narra una historia con los estereotipos de idealización americana, en donde hay una familia que vive una buena vida pero que tiene problemas familiares. La película se centra mas que nada en el problema del protagonista, quien no se siente querido ni respetado y busca un cambio en su vida, siendo conocer a Angela el impulso a hacerlo. También hay diversos arcos de personajes, teniendo a cada uno enfocado en algo en especifico y tratando de mejorar su vida; mi favorito y mas entretenido es el arco del protagonista, y otro que me gusto mucho es el del personaje de Ricky. Las actuaciones son excelentes, Kevin Spacey es el mas destacado a mi parecer, haciendo un gran papel de este hombre viviendo su crisis de la mediana edad, con momentos mas serios y emotivos, y otros graciosos. Por otro lado, la historia es algo polémica por lo que cuenta, pero es excelente el mensaje que quiere dejar y para mi lo logra ejecutar de gran manera. Además, es una película muy entretenida, mi única critica es que capaz tarda unos 15/20 minutos en engancharte, pero después no podes parar de verla. Tiene un par de giros de trama muy buenos que no te los esperas y te van a sorprender; además, destaco un par de escenas que ya son icónicas para el mundo del cine. Por ultimo, destacar la banda sonora, que si bien esta un poco ausente en la película, lo poco que se puede escuchar creo que no esta para nada mal. En conclusión, una excelente película que creo yo todos deberían ver ya que es un clásico del cine, con una historia brillante y sumamente entretenida junto a un mensaje que logra transmitir muy bien. Muy recomendada.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/15/24

Full Review

Larry K

Kevin Spacey is truly unbelievable in this

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/19/24

Full Review

The Great John A

I'm just an ordinary reviewer, with nothing to lose! American Beauty is a comedy drama about a father in a mid-life crisis after being infatuated by his daughters friend... but that's just the tipping point of the story. Masterpiece is the first thing to come to mind, there is very few films that manage to confine different stories in the same setting the way American Beauty does so. The film is a rollercoaster of emotion and can easily change the whole entire atmosphere with the snap of it's fingers with a indistinguishable transition. That my friends, is called: "imaginative control" which is VERY hard to master. But in it's full throttle, can make a film undeniably adequate and spin on it's own head without being too ridiculous. I can't even describe how masterclass the acting is, Kevin Spacey's best performance as this frustrated, but caring, man which resorted him to win his second oscar. The music as well is just so simple, yet so calm and mild mannered just like Lester (for the most part!). Also some of the storylines that are included, while need to be discovered in context, are just cinema gold about this boy and an abusive father. Overall it's funny, it's sad, it's thought-provoking and it's a classic! American Beauty indulges it's intelligence thanks to it's amazing control of the story that succeed in it's goal for being one of my favourite films of all time! Watch it on prime now!!! Grade: S

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/28/24

Full Review

Axel X

I've heard a lot about "American Beauty" before I got a chance to see it. I wasn't really a fan, but one good thing did come out of this movie though. I finally understood a reference to this movie from an episode of Family Guy. Quite possibly the best reference ever made on Family Guy was towards "American Beauty." When Peter was filming Stewey and the camera happened upon a plastic bag, Peter was describing how beautiful it is and then God yelled out: "IT'S JUST SOME TRASH BLOWING IN THE WIND! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW COMPLEX YOUR CIRCULATORY SYSTEM IS!?" I was not a fan of "American Beauty." I don't know how to explain it completely, but I'm going to do my best. If I had to say exactly what it was that I didn't like, I think that it would be that everything in this movie felt too conveniently placed and I'm aware that all movies are like that where things are conveniently placed, but come on you have to do it in a subtle way and everything written into this movie for us to find out about the characters just didn't feel very subtle and told us about the characters in the way advertisements used to work back in the 1920's. There are series on TV like "Sons of Anarchy" or "Breaking Bad" when the characters talking about themselves doesn't feel so contrived. But here the lines said by a lot of the characters felt COMPLETELY contrived. For instance, one line that I didn't like was the one where whatshisface "The King of Real Estate" says the line where we learn everything central to Carolyn Burnham when he says: "One must project an image of success at all times." And she agreed completely with that statement. When Carolyn failed to sell one of her houses she started crying and then started berating and yelling at herself. And it made sense that she would identify with that statement, but at the same time it was too conveniently placed. With Kevin Spacey I don't understand AT ALL why people thought his role in this movie was so good. His character just felt so lifeless at times and restricted in many others. I did like the character development of Lester Burnham throughout American Beauty though. I loved how he changed in ways where even though he was living a life of a loser who was disrespected at home and at work and then becoming a guy who was tired of taking hits from the people involved his life. And by the end of it all he changed into someone who didn't care anymore and was free to do what he wanted and he didn't have to listen to anyone. And of course I'm sure I'm saying something that most other people have probably said long before I saw this movie, but I truly loved how this movie shows us the life of a family that superficially looks alright, but beneath the surface they're messed up and they hate each other. American Beauty is an overrated movie by a director that made two other movies that I actually really liked. And because of those two movies I hold Sam Mendes to a higher standard.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/18/24

Full Review

emmanuel f

Kevin spacey at his best

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/27/24

Full Review

Murilo d

THIS IS ART. This movie touched me in a way that I can't explain. Kevin Spacey is one of the best actors of all times.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/12/24

Full Review

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Sam Mendes

Director

Kevin Spacey

Lester Burnham

Annette Bening

Carolyn Burnham

Thora Birch

Jane Burnham

Wes Bentley

Ricky Fitts

Mena Suvari

Angela Hayes

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American Beauty: Trailer 1

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Paul Clinton (CNN.com)

CNN.com

American Beauty is deeply disturbing, acerbically funny, brilliantly acted, breathtakingly original and highly sophisticated.

Feb 22, 2015

Full Review

Ann Hornaday

Baltimore Sun

A tightly coiled rage seethes beneath the pretty surface of American Beauty, a wickedly funny black comedy directed by newcomer Sam Mendes.

Rated: 4/4

Feb 22, 2015

Full Review

Jeff Strickler

Minneapolis Star Tribune

This is Spacey's best performance since he took home an Oscar for The Usual Suspects.

Feb 22, 2015

Full Review

Mark Johnson

Awards Daily

With its clever and thought-provoking exploration of middle-class life, American Beauty continues to ignite conversations and debates, setting it apart from many other films

Jun 14, 2023

Full Review

Joanna Connors

Cleveland Plain Dealer

[It's] a movie that years from now will end up on the lists of greatest movies ever made. It's a complete original, at once hugely entertaining and deeply thoughtful, combining comedy, tragedy and philosophy in surprising and gratifying ways.

Feb 4, 2022

Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

It's a love story, a tale of redemption, a drama of unraveling lifestyles and psychological corrosion, and a poetic tragedy, all wrapped up together.

Rated: 10/10

Sep 9, 2020

Full Review

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Synopsis

Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is a gainfully employed suburban husband and father. Fed up with his boring, stagnant existence, he quits his job and decides to reinvent himself as a pot-smoking, responsibility-shirking teenager. What follows is at once cynical, hysterical, and, eventually, tragically uplifting.

Director: Sam Mendes
Executive Producer: Steven Spielberg
Screenwriter: Alan Ball
Distributor: DreamWorks SKG
Production Co: DreamWorks Pictures, Jinks/Cohen Company
Rating: R (Language|Drug Content|Strong Sexuality|Violence)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 1, 1999, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $130.1M
Sound Mix: Dolby SR, DTS, Dolby Stereo, Surround, SDDS, Dolby A, Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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