American Beauty (1999 film)
| American Beauty | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Sam Mendes |
| Produced by | |
| Written by | Alan Ball |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Thomas Newman |
| Cinematography | Conrad L. Hall |
| Edited by | |
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Production
company |
Jinks/Cohen Company
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| Distributed by | DreamWorks Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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122 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $15 million |
| Box office | $356.3 million |
| Actor | Role | |
|---|---|---|
| Spacey, KevinKevin Spacey | Burnham, LesterLester Burnham | |
| Bening, AnnetteAnnette Bening | Burnham, CarolynCarolyn Burnham | |
| Birch, ThoraThora Birch | Burnham, JaneJane Burnham | |
| Bentley, WesWes Bentley | Fitts, RickyRicky Fitts | |
| Suvari, MenaMena Suvari | Hayes, AngelaAngela Hayes | |
| Gallagher, PeterPeter Gallagher | Kane, BuddyBuddy Kane | |
| Janney, AllisonAllison Janney | Fitts, BarbaraBarbara Fitts | |
| Cooper, ChrisChris Cooper | Fitts, Col. FrankCol. Frank Fitts | |
| Del Sherman, BarryBarry Del Sherman | Dupree, BradBrad Dupree |
American Beauty is a 1999 American drama film directed by Sam Mendes and written by Alan Ball. Kevin Spacey stars as Lester Burnham, a 42-year-old advertising executive who has a midlife crisis when he becomes infatuated with his teenaged daughter's best friend, Angela (Mena Suvari). Annette Bening co-stars as Lester's materialistic wife, Carolyn, and Thora Birch plays their insecure daughter, Jane. Wes Bentley, Chris Cooper, and Allison Janney also feature. The film is described by academics as a satire of American middle-class notions of beauty and personal satisfaction; analysis has focused on the film's explorations of romantic, and paternal love, sexuality, beauty, materialism, self-liberation, and redemption.
Ball began writing American Beauty as a play in the early 1990s, partly inspired by the media circus around the Amy Fisher trial in 1992. He shelved the play after realizing the story would not work on stage. After several years as a television screenwriter, Ball revived the idea in 1997 when attempting to break into the film industry. The modified script had a cynical outlook that was influenced by Ball's frustrating tenures writing for several sitcoms. Producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen took American Beauty to DreamWorks; the then-fledgling film studio bought Ball's script for $250,000, outbidding several other production bodies. DreamWorks financed the $15 million production and served as its North American distributor. American Beauty marked acclaimed theater director Mendes' film debut; courted after his successful productions of the musicals Oliver! and Cabaret, Mendes was, nevertheless, only given the job after 20 others were considered and several "A-list" directors turned down the opportunity.
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