American Beauty

Play trailer

2:53

American Beauty

R

1999

2h 2m

Comedy

Romance

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

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.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

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

Read Critics Reviews

Paul Clinton (CNN.com)

CNN.com

02/22/2015

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

Go to Full Review

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.

Go to Full Review

Jeff Strickler

Minneapolis Star Tribune

02/22/2015

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

Go to Full Review

Nicolás Medina

Peliplat

May 10

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]

Go to Full Review

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

Go to Full Review

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.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Stephen C

@bob25009 Mar 1

Winner of 2000 Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor (Kevin Spacey) and Best Director (Sam Mendes).

See more

SKINS T

@holdingtheblackdahlia04 Feb 28

I don't believe this to be a masterpiece, nor what it is chalked up to be. More or less than that to be frank. This is a very subjective film, but what is not subjective is the morbidness of Lester's lust for Ashley, Jane's friend. I actually did not care for that part of this film. I found it disinteresting and repetitive. However, I loved Jane and Ricky's portion. It was beautiful, and I would have loved this movie more than I hate it if it was just that put into center play. This movie could have been amazing without the odd age-attraction and I'm not sure why they included it to begin with. The irony of the movie being called "American Beauty" but the entirety of the execution is an older, burnt out man wanting to have sex with a teenager until the ending, where he does redeem himself. This could have been executed entirely better, but It is the same monotonous trash Lolita tried to spew and call art. It feels beautifully horrid.

See more

Jason S

@queebo Feb 28

There is no subtlety or nuance to this movie. All of the themes and ideas just slap you in the face, and they aren't really profound in 2026. It does hold your attention, though.

See more

Non school P

@RT47853434 Feb 22

This movie has some unexpectedly useful themes to it. I'm going to pick out one in particular that won't be popular with the internet puritan crowd. If you find yourself in a very unethical situation with a young woman that you shouldn't be with, you CAN stop before it's too late. It doesn't make you a hero, just a chance at redemption to turn away from scumbaggery to decency and humanity in the end. I know there's an ick factor...it's not supposed to make you comfortable and think everything is just a-okay, but it does mean that there are shades of gray to human behavior and all of its messy nuances. Now proceed to bash the actor portraying the message, all of the bad things he and others did in the interim (in the film and real life), and everything else one can find to bash in this dark comedy. Take me on for pointing it out while you are at it.

See more

Michael K.

@mk7709 Feb 20

As good as I remembered.

See more

Guillermo A

@Guillermo.Almeida Feb 9

Just perfect. "But don’t worry. You will someday" :)

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Sam Mendes

Director

Kevin Spacey

Lester Burnham

Annette Bening

Carolyn Burnham

Thora Birch

Jane Burnham

Wes Bentley

Ricky Fitts

Mena Suvari

Angela Hayes

Celebrity

43%

42%

Celebrity

Watchlist

Outside Providence

53%

65%

Outside Providence

Watchlist

The Big Kahuna

73%

72%

The Big Kahuna

Watchlist

Bulworth

76%

68%

Bulworth

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Bulworth

Bongwater

17%

66%

Bongwater

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

New on Prime Video and Freevee in September 2022

New on Netflix in September 2022

The Jungle Book, The Lobster, and More Certified Fresh Picks on Netflix and Amazon Prime

American Beauty: Trailer 1

2:53

View more videos

View more photos

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)

Most Popular at Home Now