Horrible movie. So much is soo wrong with it. Grown man lusting after and fantasizing about young girls. Showing the private parts of girls who were underage when filming the movie. I left the movie feeling, dirty, terrible, disturbed, etc. It does make you think, but it's not worth it. Terrible waste of time and money.
American Beauty
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Is it age appropriate?
About our ratings -
Is it any good?
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Common Sense says
Powerful acting with great story. Not for kids.
Why We Rated This 
for Ages 17–18
What to watch out for
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Violence:
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Sex:
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Language:
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Consumerism:
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Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
What Parents Need to Know
This review of American Beauty was written by Nell Minow
Parents need to know that this movie's rating comes from graphic, bloody violence (including child abuse), extremely raw language, nudity, sex (including teen sex), and drug use that is very positively portrayed. Parents of teens who see the movie may want to discuss the sexual behavior of the teenagers it portrays. One who relishes her sexual power and enjoys telling her friends the lurid details is revealed to be a virgin. Another is saving for highly unnecessary breast augmentation surgery. The boy with the camera is a voyeur. The girl he spies on is captivated by his attention. Like many of the characters in the movie, she is only able to feel real when she is perceived by others. She is painfully aware that her parents do not really look at her.
Families Can Talk About
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- Families can talk about the sexual behavior of the teenagers the movie portrays. This movie is not for most teens, but those who do see it should use it as a way to begin a conversation about the ways that families communicate, the choices we make about sex and drugs, and the ways that we find meaning in a complicated world.
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More on American Beauty
What’s the Story?
Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is a 42-year-old man who has lost touch with anything that made him feel alive. His wife Carolyn (Annette Benning) is a realtor, so highly focused that she is clenched. His daughter Jane (Thora Birch) is a sullen teenager. Both barely disguise their contempt for him, which he accepts as his due. One night, at a high school basketball game, Lester sees a vision that transforms him. Jane performs in a pom-pom routine with a girl named Angela (Mena Suvari). Lester is overcome by Angela's youth and beauty, and for the first time in his memory, she gives him a goal. He wants to make love to her. He quits his job, begins to work out, smokes some very expensive marijuana supplied by the teenage boy next door, and buys the red Firebird he dreamed of back when he was passionate about his dreams. The boy next door (Wes Bentley) uses the money he makes from selling drugs to buy video equipment, with which he films everything he sees, especially Jane.
Is It Any Good?
Lester, who narrates AMERICAN BEAUTY, informs us at the beginning that he will be dead by the end. As in the classic Hemmingway short story, "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber," he becomes passionate and vital at last, which is unsettling to everyone around him.
Teens are likely to consider this movie profound in the way that their parents considered The Graduate profound. Lester, like Dustin Hoffman's character Benjamin Braddock, is trying to get away from "plastics." Carolyn has buried her feelings with motivational tapes, a $4000 sofa, and mantras like, "I WILL sell this house today!" Lester has escaped from a crushing feeling of inauthenticity by becoming numb. By telling the truth to himself and those around him he is like the child in "The Emperor's New Clothes," saying that the suburban dream is empty and that they will not allow themselves to be ordinary. And, most important, the teens are the real heroes of the movie, having already realized that the dream is empty. What they may not realize is that the real tragedy of Lester and Carolyn is that they once knew that, too, and it did not prevent them from losing themselves.
Movie Details
Studio: Dreamworks SKG, Director: Sam Mendes
Run time: 122 minutes
Theatrical release: 10/01/1999, DVD release: 03/04/2003
MPAA Rating: R for nudity, sexual references, profanity, and drug use
Run time: 122 minutes
Theatrical release: 10/01/1999, DVD release: 03/04/2003
MPAA Rating: R for nudity, sexual references, profanity, and drug use
Our Members Say
See all 17 member reviews
Most Recent Reviews
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I rate this title off for age 17 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Inappropriate sexual content
- Inappropriate language
- Drinking, smoking, or drug use
- Negative role models
Not a movie for anyone
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I rate this title iffy for age 14 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate sexual content
- Inappropriate language
- Drinking, smoking, or drug use
- Negative role models
Some iffy content...parent preview reccomended
To me, American Beauty is reminiscent of Woody Allen; except R-rated and modernized. Just like Battleship Potemkin or Citizen Kane, Beauty is like a textbook for filmmakers; it’s the definition of a successful motion picture. You may be saying, “I’ve seen Annie Hall and Manhattan, they’re nothing like American Beauty.” Consider the subjects of movies such as Hannah and Her Sisters and Interiors; love and lust; rape and sexual violence. Some of the best performances of the decade can be found in Beauty; Kevin Spacey knocks ‘em dead with his performance as Lester Burnham, a troubled suburban man going through mid-life crisis. Spacey’s performance is extremely powerful because sometimes you want to laugh at him and sometimes you want to scream at him. Lester is very believable and maybe even relatable to. Annette Bening also does a marvelous job as Lester’s wife. Sometimes I crack up thinking that this was the same woman who played the prez’s lover in The American President. Spacey and Bening’s, well, hate for each other is a show-stealer. Alan Ball does a superb job with the script, giving it an excellent plot and adding things such as a narrator and a truly thumbs-up opening sequence. Climax, conflict? He does it all. The artistic direction and cinematography are also fantastic, another great combo. If you haven’t seen American Beauty or you have and hated it: watch it (again). It’s a masterpiece.
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I rate this title iffy for age 12 and give it
Amazing movie, funny and insightful. Kids may not understand the material. There is also sexual content, violence and drug use.
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I rate this title iffy for age 14 and give it
Struggles
This is an amazing movie that shows the hidden secrets of families that look perfect on the outside. It shows struggles of adults as well as teenagers. I absolutely love this movie!
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I rate this title pause for age 17 and give it
Tell me something
Tell me something beautiful and thought provoking, If you are 15 and apparently understood it then why wouldnt a 17 year old understand it.
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I rate this title pause for age 0 and give it
Freaky and Potentialy Life Changing
I saw this movie and was in shock for days, it is definitely not for kids my age, but it is really an AMAZING movie. AMAZAING. I don't want to say to much, but the point of the movie is the dysfunctionality (is that a word?) of american families, so almost everything is wrong here, but that's the point. If you are over 15 GO WATCH THIS NOW.
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I rate this title pause for age 0 and give it
The best film of 2000
Sam Mendes' triupmphant debut shows us the story of a depressed downtrodden individual who decides to do something about it. Very inspiring.
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I rate this title pause for age 17 and give it
A good movie with themes not for kids
A well done x-ray of suburban life in the 1970s, with desire as the thread that unravels the hypocrisies of an empty existence. Very nicely filmed, but a cold movie.
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I rate this title off for age 0 and give it
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I rate this title on for age 0 and give it
Genius
I think this is one of the most brilliant films I have ever had the pleasure of watching. It is not for weak minded audiences and I recommend that parents do not show it to young children for obvious reasons. The story line is engaging, the acting is spectacular, and the casting is perfect. Spacey proves to be an excellent choice for Lester and Bening is wonderful as Carolyn. Overall I give this film the highest of ratings and place it in the must see category for every movie fan.
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I rate this title on for age 0 and give it
Yes
My all-time favorite.
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I rate this title on for age 0 and give it
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I rate this title off for age 0 and give it
Rated R for a reason
Full of sex, violence, you name it. It was disgusting. If you're a parent who has no idea what this movie is about, please know one thing, it's not for kids of any age!
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I rate this title on for age 0 and give it
spectacular
American beauty is for people who love film as an art, a story as good as it could ever be the academy treated the film with the up most respect and so should you , not made for young children and if weak minded its not for you either
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I rate this title pause for age 0 and give it
Very Powerful Movie
This is one of those movies that make you think. When the movie ends, you just think. Think about what you have just watched. And think about the rest of your life.
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I rate this title pause for age 0 and give it
3 STARS? What the heck! THIS IS A FIVE STAR MOVIE!
This movie is one of those rare films that is both art and entertainment. I fell in love with this movie from start to finish and watched it 3 times over again the day after. Amazing, beautiful, well-acted, excellently written and shot, funny, cool, and explicit. Many would say this movie is for adults only, but as you can see, I'm fourteen and had no problem at all with it. There's some sexual dialogue amd two or three bare-breasted incidents. The first is the shortest, less than a second long. A flash of a website on a computer. The second is medium, seen from a distance, maybe ten seconds or a bit more. Not that much. But the last incident, very near the powerful ending, is a couple of minutes. It's pretty long. But again, I could handle it and I think you need to know your kid before you let him/her see this movie. There is a handful of language, but it's not PULP FICTION, and towards the end there is one very violent murder resulting in a LOT of blood pouring from someone's head, but it's not a waterfall. It's a pretty explicit movie but one of the best I've ever seen. Adults, go rent it and bring your MATURE teens with you, kids, ask.
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Ratings at a Glance
| 100% | of parents don't feel there are good role models |
| 100% | of parents don't think the messages are positive |
| 100% | of parents say there's too much drinking, drugs, or smoking |
| 100% | of parents say it has language their kids can't use |
| 100% | of parents say the sexual behavior isn't age appropriate |
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