A sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter's best friend.A sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter's best friend.A sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter's best friend.
- Won 5 Oscars
- 112 wins & 102 nominations total
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Best Picture Winners by Year
Best Picture Winners by Year
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDirector Sam Mendes designed the two girls' look to change over the course of the film, with Thora Birch gradually using less makeup and Mena Suvari gradually using more, to emphasize his view of their shifting perceptions of themselves.
- GoofsWhen Jane and Angela are outside talking to Ricky at school, Angela's cigarette keeps growing and shrinking throughout the conversation.
- Quotes
[last lines]
Lester Burnham: [narrating] I had always heard your entire life flashes in front of your eyes the second before you die. First of all, that one second isn't a second at all, it stretches on forever, like an ocean of time... For me, it was lying on my back at Boy Scout camp, watching falling stars... And yellow leaves, from the maple trees, that lined our street... Or my grandmother's hands, and the way her skin seemed like paper... And the first time I saw my cousin Tony's brand new Firebird... And Janie... And Janie... And... Carolyn. I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me... but it's hard to stay mad, when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst... And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life... You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry... you will someday.
- Crazy creditsThe end credits gives thanks to the Donmar Warehouse in London and Dr. Bill and Alice. This is a reference by Sam Mendes to the characters played by Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in Eyes Wide Shut (1999). Mendes directed Kidman in The Blue Room, which is a play performed at the Donmar Warehouse.
- Alternate versionsSome TV versions deleted most language and explicit content to maintain a clean TV-14 rating.
- ConnectionsEdited into Sex at 24 Frames Per Second (2003)
- SoundtracksBecause
Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
Performed by Elliott Smith
Elliott Smith appears courtesy of DreamWorks Records
- bootsy-4
- Dec 13, 1999
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Belleza americana
- Filming locations
- Sacramento, California, USA(aerial shots)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $15,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $130,096,601
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $861,531
- Sep 19, 1999
- Gross worldwide
- $356,296,601
- Runtime2 hours 2 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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