American Beauty
... look closer
Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.
- Director
- Sam Mendes
- Signature
- Craft · Drama · Tension
- Worldwide
- $356M
Who's in it
Cast
The billed ensemble, with character names. Open any performer for their Nutevio filmography.
The Nutevio profile
Movie DNA
How American Beauty actually feels to watch, measured on the twelve traits our editors track across every Nutevio title.
Perfect if you enjoyed
Story overview
What It's About
Spoiler-free. Read the analysis below for the full argument.
Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.
Where to watch
Streaming
Availability verified against regional listings.
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Why We Recommend It
Why It's Ranked
American Beauty appears in 1 Nutevio collection. Here is the argument behind each placement.
- Top 250 Movies of All Time Ranked #122
Placed at #122 by the Nutevio ranking model. An editor's written case is on the way.
The record
Awards
10 wins · 9 nominations
Academy Awards
5 wins · 8 nominations
- WinnerAcademy Award for Best Actor
- WinnerAcademy Award for Best Actress
- WinnerAcademy Award for Best Cinematography
- WinnerAcademy Award for Best Director
- WinnerAcademy Award for Best Film Editing
BAFTA Awards
1 win
- WinnerBAFTA Award for Best Film
Amanda Award for Best Foreign Feature Film
1 win
- WinnerAmanda Award for Best Foreign Feature Film
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Film
1 win
- WinnerDallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Film
National Board of Review Award for Best Film
1 win
- WinnerNational Board of Review Award for Best Film
National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
1 win
- WinnerNational Board of Review: Top Ten Films
European Film Award for Best Non-European Film
No wins yet · 1 nomination
- WinnerEuropean Film Award for Best Non-European Film
The numbers
Box Office & Release
American Beauty returned 23.8× its budget worldwide.
- Budget
- $15M
- Opening weekend
- —
- Domestic gross
- —
- International gross
- —
- Worldwide gross
- $356M
- Release date
- Sep 15, 1999
- Runtime
- 2h 2m
- MPAA rating
- R
- Language
- English
- Country
- United States of America
Figures from the verified production record. Fields we cannot source are left blank rather than estimated.
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