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Sep 24, 1999 · Not the kind of victory you'd get in a feel-good movie, but the kind where you prove something important, if only to yourself. "American Beauty" is not as dark or twisted as " Happiness ," last year's attempt to shine a light under the rock of American society.
The movie is fantastic, compelling drama, great cinematography, hilarious, interesting characters and the whole time your in a bit of suspense because at the beginning of the movie Lester says he is going to be killed in just a few days. To me the theme of the movie is about finding happiness.
- Carolyn’s Meltdown Was Done in One Take
- Thora Birch’s Parents Had to Be on The Set For Her Topless Scene
- Honey Tobacco Was Used as Prop Weed
- Lester’s Job Application at Mr. Smiley’s Was Actually Shot at Night
- The Script’S Original Ending Was Very Different
- The Hand Model on The Poster Was Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks
- Kirsten Dunst and Sarah Michelle Gellar Turned Down The Role of Angela
- Screenwriter Alan Ball Initially Envisioned The Film as A Stage Play
Early in the movie, we see Carolyn show an open house to a couple of potential buyers who decide not to take it. When she’s alone, after failing to sell the house, she breaks down. Annette Bening nailed this scene in a single take. The actor claimed that she based her performance as Carolyn on the suburban moms she saw behind closed doors when she ...
Thora Birch was under 18 when she shot her topless scene for American Beauty(she may have been 16 or 17 — there are conflicting reports), so she was a minor according to U.S. law. This meant that she couldn’t shoot the scene without permission from both her parents and the child labor representative, and they all had to be present on the set. In an...
In a couple of scenes in American Beauty, Lester gets weed from Ricky. They share a joint outside the restaurant where they meet, and after that, Ricky sells pot to Lester every now and then. In these scenes, honey tobacco was used as the prop weed. When Carolyn comes out to tell Lester she’s ready to leave, he starts laughing. This wasn’t scripted...
After quitting his office job, Lester drives down to a fast food outlet called Mr. Smiley’s to apply for a job in the drive-thru. Although this scene takes place in the middle of the day, it was shot at night. The light had to be altered to look like it was the daytime in post-production. The fact that it was really night-time can be spotted in the...
At the end of the initial script, Lester actually went through with sleeping with Angela. The filmmakers eventually decided that having him stop right beforehand would be more effective, although they feared they’d be accused of playing it safe. RELATED: 5 Movies With Alternate Endings Better Than The Original (& 5 That Are Worse) There was origina...
In an Instagram post last year, Mad Men star Christina Hendricks revealed that she was the hand model whose hand appeared on the poster for American Beauty. However, it wasn’t Hendricks’ stomach; the stomach belongs to Chloe Hunter. The poster bears the tagline “Look closer,” which refers to the meaning behind the title. American Beautyis named aft...
When the roles in American Beauty were being cast, the role of Angela was offered to Kirsten Dunst, Brittany Murphy, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Katie Holmes, who all turned it down. In Gellar’s case, it was due to her commitments to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Kate Hudson, Majandra Delfino, and Tiffani Thiessen all auditioned to play Angela, but didn...
In his acceptance speech at the Academy Awards, screenwriter Alan Ball claimed that he came up with the idea for this movie while he was sitting in the World Trade Center Plaza and saw a paper bag blowing in the wind. He initially conceived the story as a stage play. RELATED: 10 Must-See Movies That Are Actually Based On Plays On the DVD commentary...
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American Beauty is a 1999 American black comedy-drama film written by Alan Ball and directed by Sam Mendes in his feature directorial debut. Kevin Spacey stars as Lester Burnham, an advertising executive who has a midlife crisis when he becomes infatuated with his teenage daughter's best friend, played by Mena Suvari.
Flawlessly cast and brimming with dark, acid wit, American Beauty is a smart, provocative high point of late '90s mainstream Hollywood film. Read Critics Reviews
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Feb 7, 2020 · Critics seemed particularly impressed with the film’s willingness to push the boundaries of the “Hollywood norm” and the sharp contrast between the pleasant and happy life of small-town America and...
Jul 5, 2022 · Looking at ‘ American Beauty ’ and ‘Revolutionary Road’ in close consonance, the tensions, the staging, the set pieces, and the conversations set around them, it is really not difficult to arrive at Mendes’ strong theatre background — the mastery just shows itself quite naturally.
