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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
8.3 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 269 Ratings

Your Score
10 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. 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: 82 out of 94
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 94
  3. Negative: 10 out of 94
  1. Paxster
    10
    I love how the film captures the strangest of all locations: Surburbia. Many of us who live in surburbia can relate to this awkward black comedy which makes you realise we are all a bit crazy really. Possibly the strangest element of the film is the lust Kevin Spacey has for his daughters friend. Although incredibly disturbing its also seems to make you love the main character even more and that can't have been achieved without some hard work and dedication.… Expand
    • 1 of 1 users said yes
  2. 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
    • 0 of 2 users said yes
  3. [Anonymous]
    3
    The acting is completely pedestrian. Kevin Spacey is as good an actor as my next door neighbor. The philosophical ideas behind it are hardly deep or meaningful. There is nothing redeeming about it, and all of the characters are completely devoid of any qualities that make me care for them in any way. It was a totally average film. The only reason I give it a 3 is because the cinematography was fairly well done. Not Hitchcock, Woody Allen or Bergman, but not bad either.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes

See all 94 User Reviews

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