American Beauty

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2:53

American Beauty

R

1999

2h 2m

Comedy

Romance

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

87%

Tomatometer

192 Reviews

93%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

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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Paul Clinton (CNN.com)

CNN.com

02/22/2015

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

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Ann Hornaday

Baltimore Sun

02/22/2015

4/4

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

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Jeff Strickler

Minneapolis Star Tribune

02/22/2015

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

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Nicolás Medina

Peliplat

05/10/2025

10/10

In a world increasingly obsessed with appearance and superficiality, the film reminds us that the important thing was, and will be to look closer and find beauty in truth and authenticity. [Full review in Spanish]

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Mark Johnson

Awards Daily

06/14/2023

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

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Joanna Connors

Cleveland Plain Dealer

02/04/2022

[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.

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Valentino C

@RT68062798 2d

It's Pedophilia, the movie. This is one of the most disgusting, miserable experiences I've ever had in my life watching this movie. I would've been surprised that this film predicted how we feel about Kevin Spacey as a person. The Green Mile should've won best picture over this asinine film.

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Johnny T

@RT53807911 Jun 30

"Yeah, great film,🎥🎥 except for frank fitz kissing Lester "!The film is very funny and colorful "!It takes me back when I was 14"!

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Thyaagu C

@Thyaagu Jun 15

What a fascinating watch! Funny, dark, tragic, and beautiful - all at the same time. Human desires, insecurities, fantasies, and all the messy emotions surrounding them are captured and displayed at their absolute best here.

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14Roy H.

@QuarterRoy13 Apr 23

The casting, storyline, Direction, Acting & Set design are as good as it gets! I wouldn't have changed a thing about this film!

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AJ S.

@Ajschwe Apr 6

This is easily a top-tier movie for me.

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Stephen C

@bob25009 Mar 1

The worldwide gross is $356,296,601.00 over a budget of $15,000,000.00.

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Sam Mendes

Director

Kevin Spacey

Lester Burnham

Annette Bening

Carolyn Burnham

Thora Birch

Jane Burnham

Wes Bentley

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Mena Suvari

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American Beauty: Trailer 1

2:53

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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
Producer: Bruce Cohen, Dan Jinks
Screenwriter: Alan Ball
Distributor: DreamWorks SKG
Production Co: DreamWorks Pictures, Jinks/Cohen Company
Rating: R (Language|Drug Content|Strong Sexuality|Violence)
Genre: Comedy, Romance, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 1, 1999, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $130.1M
Runtime: 2h 2m
Sound Mix: Dolby SR, DTS, Dolby Stereo, Surround, SDDS, Dolby A, Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)