Login

American Beauty

Five Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director and Actor, went to this lacerating, darkly funny look at decay in contemporary suburbia. Kevin Spacey plays a frustrated magazine editor whose mid-life crisis threatens his troubled marriage to real estate agent Annette Bening, and leads him to an infatuation with his teenage daughter's girlfriend.

Year: 1999
Genre: Alice's 500 Greatest Films, Comedy, Drama, BAFTA - Best Film, Academy Award - Best Picture, High Times, Kate's Favourites, Best of the 1990s, Empire Mag's Greatest 201, Alice Members' Top 100, Black Humour, Movies (1001 You Must See Before You Die), Golden Globe - Drama, Dysfunctional Families
Country: USA
Director: Sam Mendes
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Allison Janney, Peter Gallagher, Mena Suvari, Wes Bentley, Chris Cooper, Scott Bakula
Duration: 117 Minutes
Rating: R16 - Contains violence, offensive language, drug use and sex scenes.
8.4/10
Location in store: Alice's 500 Greatest Films

AVAILABILITY

DVD out - ADD TO YOUR QUEUE

Permanent Collection

For in-store pickup reservations please call 03 3650 615

ALICE ALSO SUGGESTS:

Atlantic City (1980)

Burt Lancaster delivers a stunning performance as the seemingly washed-up gangster, with Susan Saran...

The Graduate (1967)

A landmark film of the late '60s that's still just as pungent and funny. Dustin Hoffman, in his firs...

Heathers (1988)

Welcome to Westerburg High, where Veronica Sawyer (Winona Ryder) is beginning to tire of her members...

The Ice Storm (1997)

Acclaimed director Ang Lee ("The Wedding Banquet", "Sense and Sensibility") turns his camera on Amer...

Lawn Dogs (1997)

Landscaper Sam Rockwell ('Box of Moonlight') observes the foibles of the privileged people around hi...

The War Of The Roses (1989)

A wickedly delightful screwball comedy about how Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner take their divo...

The Story of Us (1999)

Follow the ups and downs of 15 years in the lives of Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer, a couple fa...

The Virgin Suicides (2000)

Writer/Director Sofia Coppola's acclaimed debut feature, based on Jeffrey Eugenides' novel, traces t...

Smile (1974)

This overlooked gem takes a satirical look at the goings-on at a California beauty pagent, and is a...

Lantana (2001)

This extraodinary psychological offering intricately meshes the elements of a murder mystery and a s...

Chuck and Buck (2000)

This wonderful tale of comically twisted obsession tells of Chuck, a Los Angeles record executive wh...

Donnie Darko (2001)

Dark and disturbing, destined-for-cult status tale stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a gifted but troubled 80...

The Good Girl (2002)

Justine Last (Jennifer Aniston) is a genuine, down-to-earth good girl whose humdrum existence revolv...

Six Feet Under: Season 1 (2001)

From Alan Ball, the Oscar-winning writer of "American Beauty", comes a series that digs where others...

The Safety of Objects (2001)

Intricately woven study of family distress from director Rose Troche ("Go Fish") looks at the troubl...

Dog Days (2001)

It's a stifling hot weekend in the suburbs of Vienna, somewhere between the autobahn and the exit ro...

The United States of Leland (2002)

After a seemingly ordinary 15-year-old Leland (Ryan Gosling) stuns his quiet community with a chilli...

The Secret Lives of Dentists (2002)

Dr. Dave Hurst (Campbell Scott) seems content with his wife Dana (Hope Davis), his three daughters,...

Sideways (2004)

A wine tasting road trip to salute Jack's (Thomas Haden Church) final days as a bachelor careens woe...

Being Julia (2004)

Hell hath no fury like the diva scorned in Istvan Szabo's wonderfully entertaining adaptation of the...

The Upside of Anger (2005)

Joan Allen is a tour de force as a bitter boozehound whose cheating husband has deserted, leaving he...

Bliss (1985)

Noticed by its absence for a number of years, this outrageous and daring Australian film stars Barry...

Imaginary Heroes (2004)

A quietly dysfunctional family is forced to re-examine itself in the wake of a tragic event when sta...

The Weather Man (2005)

This darkly funny and moving tale of mid-life crisis stars Nic Cage as Dave Spritz, a successful wea...

The King (2005)

Elvis (Gael Garcia Bernal) is a troubled, though charismatic young man, who's just left the navy and...

The Chumscrubber (2005)

When disaffected teen, Dean (Jamie Bell), discovers the body of his friend hanging in his bedroom, h...

The Quiet (2005)

Dot is a deaf/mute teen sent to live with her godparents after the death of her father, but she soon...

Little Children (2006)

Based on Tom Perrota's novel, and adapted for the screen by himself and director Todd Field, this da...

Weeds: Season 1 (2005)

Recently widowed mother of two, Nancy (Mary-Louise Parker), looks like any other resident in her aff...

Red Doors (2005)

The Wongs are a kooky Chinese-American family living in the New York suburbs. Dad is about to retir...

12 and Holding (2005)

Following the tragic death of his twin brother, Jacob and his two close friends, Malee and Leonard,...

The Event (2005)

A talented cast comes together for a contemporary issue film set in New York. A city prosecutor (Pos...

The Good Life (2007)

In small-town Nebraska, if you don't like football, you're persona non grata, so Jason Prayer (Mark...

Towelhead (2007)

Aka 'Nothing Is Private'. Writer Alan Ball ('American Beauty', 'Six Feet Under') makes his directori...

Revolutionary Road (2008)

Sam Mendes directs his wife Kate Winslet and her 'Titanic' co-star, Leonardo DiCaprio in this searin...

Revolutionary Road ( Blu-ray ) (2008)

Sam Mendes directs his wife Kate Winslet and her 'Titanic' co-star, Leonardo DiCaprio in this searin...

Wilby Wonderful (2004)

Set in the isolated community of Wilby, Canada, where peace and tranquility reign - until a series o...

The Graduate ( Blu-ray ) (1967)

A landmark film of the late '60s that's still just as pungent and funny. Dustin Hoffman, in his firs...

Love in Thoughts (2004)

Inspired by a true story, this atmospheric German drama examines the unlikely friendship between wor...

Lymelife (2008)

Based on the semi-autobiographical childhood experiences of director Derick Martini, 'Lymelife' is t...

Donnie Darko ( Blu-ray ) (2001)

During the presidential election of 1988, a teenager named Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) sleepwalks...

Life During Wartime (2009)

Controversial writer-director Todd Solondz described this darkly comic drama as his 'quasi-sequel' t...

Every Day (2010)

Directed by Richard Levine this honest comedy/drama is about a family's struggle to survive life's c...

The Descendants (2011)

A high-powered Hawaii real estate lawyer (George Clooney) finds his ordered existence shattered when...

Beginners (2010)

A semi-autobiographical comedy drama from Mike Mills, "Beginners" explores the confusion and surpris...

Blue Is the Warmest Colour (2013)

A.k.a. "La vie d'Adèle - Chapitres 1 et 2". Adele's life is changed when she meets Emma, a young wom...

Heathers ( Blu-ray ) (1988)

Welcome to Westerburg High, where Veronica Sawyer (Winona Ryder) is beginning to tire of her members...

Krisha (2015)

Krisha (Krisha Fairchild) attends Thanksgiving with her family, after not seeing them for ten years....

20th Century Women (2016)

In 1979 Santa Barbara, Calif., Dorothea Fields is a determined single mother in her mid-50s who is r...

Happiness (1998)

This remarkable, controversial, jet-black comedy circles around an unhappy family - three sisters, t...