American Beauty
American Beauty Image
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Metascore
86 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 33 Critics What's this?

User Score
8.4 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 351 Ratings

Your Score
0 out of 10
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  • Starring: Annette Bening, Kevin Spacey
  • Summary: Provoked by forbidden passions, Lester Burnham (Spacey) decides to make a few changes in his rut of a life, changes that are less midlife crisis than adolescence reborn. The freer he gets, the happier he gets, which is even more maddening to his wife, Carolyn (Bening), and daughter Jane (Birch) --especially when he turns his lustful gaze toward Jane's friend, the sultry Angela (Suvari). (Dreamworks SKG)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 33
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 33
  3. Negative: 0 out of 33
  1. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jami Bernard
    100
    A tart, funny and tremendously sobering movie about the deepest recesses of personal unhappiness.
  2. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Rod Dreher
    100
    A flat-out masterpiece, surely the best movie of the year; indeed, an all-time classic.
    All this publication's reviews
  3. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Maitland McDonagh
    80
    Black comedy of the deepest, richest darkness laid over an aching meditation on the atrophy of dreams.
  4. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Andrew O'Hehir
    60
    It remains a puzzling dream, vivid in detail and overly obvious in symbolism, fueled by half-digested lumps of malice and wonder.

See all 33 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 91 out of 103
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 103
  3. Negative: 10 out of 103
  1. SusanN.
    10
    A film I could watch over and over and never get tired of. A film to see before you die.
  2. DanielP.
    8
    A brilliant film, that shows forbidden love and family destruction.
  3. ovi_bz
    5
    It's an american not so beauty at all story. Nothing is really happen in this movie. The Kevin's character is a sick man. I don't understand why so many people like so much this movie… Expand
  4. chrisl
    0
    A really awful overblown and pompous film with very poor directing extremely awkward dialogue, and terrible acting. Kevin Spacey in particular was really tight and bland in his role.… Expand

See all 103 User Reviews

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