American beauty / Dreamworks Pictures presents ; a Jinks/Cohen Company production ; written by Alan Ball ; produced by Bruce Cohen & Dan Jinks ; directed by Sam Mendes.
Material type:
FilmPublisher number: 85382 | Paramount Home EntertainmentLanguage: English Subtitle language: English Publication details: Hollywood, Calif. : Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment ; Burbank, Calif. : Distributed by Warner Home Video, ©2011.Edition: Awards edDescription: 1 videodisc (122 min.) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 inContent type: - two-dimensional moving image
- video
- videodisc
- 0783241232
- 9780783241234
- American beauty (Motion picture)
- Director of photography, Conrad L. Hall ; editors, Tariq Anwar, Christopher Greenbury ; music, Thomas Newman.
- Academy Awards: Best actor (Spacey), Best picture, Best director, Best cinematography, Best original screenplay.
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult DVD
|
Main Library | DVD | DRAMA AMERICAN | Available | 33111010521793 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
Noted theater director Sam Mendes, who was responsible for the acclaimed 1998 revival of Cabaret and Nicole Kidman's turn in The Blue Room, made his motion picture debut with this film about the dark side of an American family, and about the nature and price of beauty in a culture obsessed with outward appearances. Kevin Spacey plays Lester Burnham, a man in his mid-40s going through an intense midlife crisis; he's grown cynical and is convinced that he has no reason to go on. Lester's relationship with his wife Carolyn (Annette Bening) is not a warm one; while on the surface Carolyn strives to present the image that she's in full control of her life, inside she feels empty and desperate. Their teenage daughter Jane (Thora Birch) is constantly depressed, lacking in self-esteem, and convinced that she's unattractive. Her problems aren't helped by her best friend Angela (Mena Suvari), an aspiring model who is quite beautiful and believes that that alone makes her a worthwhile person. Jane isn't the only one who has noticed that Angela is attractive: Lester has fallen into uncontrollable lust for her, and she becomes part of his drastic plan to change his body and change his life. Meanwhile, next door, Colonel Fitts (Chris Cooper) has spent a lifetime in the Marine Corps and can understand and tolerate no other way of life, which makes life difficult for his son Ricky (Wes Bentley), an aspiring filmmaker and part-time drug dealer who is obsessed with beauty, wherever and whatever it may be. American Beauty was also the screen debut for screenwriter Alan Ball. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Disc was originally distributed in 2000 by Dreamworks Home Entertainment.
DVD ; Region 1, widescreen enhanced for 16:9 TVs ; DTS digital surround, Dolby 2.0 surround or Dolby Digital 5.1, NTSC.
English language soundtrack; closed-captioned in English for the hearing impaired.
Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, Mena Suvari, Peter Gallagher, Chris Cooper, Allison Janney, Scott Bakula, Sam Robards.
Director of photography, Conrad L. Hall ; editors, Tariq Anwar, Christopher Greenbury ; music, Thomas Newman.
Originally released as motion picture in 1999.
An emotionally & spiritually comatose suburban man decides "to hell with it all" and reverts to living as he did when he was happiest--as a carefree teenager. His desperately uptight wife and sullen daughter can only look on as he quits his corporate job to become a burger flipper, starts getting high with a strange new neighbor (whose parents are even stranger) and lusts after a pouty blonde teenager--his daughter's best friend.
Rated R for strong sexuality, language, violence, and drug content.
Special features: American beauty: look closer ... a behind the scenes featurette ; film commentary with director Sam Mendes and writer Alan Ball ; storyboard presentation with commentary by Sam Mendes and director of photography, Conrad L. Hall ; cast and crew biographies ; two theatrical trailers ; production notes.
Academy Awards: Best actor (Spacey), Best picture, Best director, Best cinematography, Best original screenplay.