American Beauty (1999)

My Review

The Best Picture of 1999 is…..”American Beauty,” a black comedy-drama film that tells the story of a media executive going through a mid-life crisis. He must deal with several things at once: Getting fired from his job, developing a crush on his daughter’s best friend, and discovering his wife’s infidelity. Director Sam Mendes created quite a film, in his big screen debut, with more twists and turns than a pretzel, from an outstanding screenplay by Alan Ball. It won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Kevin Spacey), Best Original Screenplay, and Best Cinematography (Conrad L. Hall).

Spacey had the role of a lifetime here, delivering quite an amazing performance, and heading a very talented cast that includes Annette Benning, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, Chris Cooper, Allison Janney, Peter Gallagher, Scott Bakula, Sam Robards, Mena Suvari, Amber Smith, Barry Del Sherman, John Cho, and Ronald Reagan in archival footage. “American Beauty” was the ninth highest grossing film of 1999 for the Jinks/Cohen Company and DreamWorks Pictures. It was filmed at various locations around Southern California.