Lessons On Movies.com
An ESL / EFL Online Gap-Fill Quiz on American Beauty

American Beauty is a 1999 American film directed by Sam Mendes. It Kevin Spacey as office worker Lester Burnham, who hates his job and boring . He has a midlife crisis when he becomes with his teenage daughter's best friend, Angela (Mena Suvari). Annette Bening co-stars as Lester's materialistic wife, Carolyn, and Thora Birch their insecure daughter, Jane. The film has been described by academics as a of American middle class ideas about beauty and personal satisfaction. Critics have on the film's explorations of romantic and paternal love, sexuality, beauty, materialism, alienation, freedom, and freeing oneself from .

American Beauty was positively received by and audiences alike. It was the best-reviewed American film of the year and over $350 million worldwide. It won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (for Spacey), Best Original and Best Cinematography. The years since have seen its critical regard . In 2005, Premiere named American Beauty as one of 20 "most movies of all time". Mendes accepted the criticism, saying: "I thought some of it was entirely justified—it was a little at the time." The movie review site Rotten Tomatoes says: “American Beauty is a , provocative high point of late '90s Hollywood film.”