American Beauty (1999) won five Academy Awards.
The film won Best Picture, Best Director for Sam Mendes, Best Actor for Kevin Spacey, Best Original Screenplay for Alan Ball, and Best Cinematography for Conrad L. Hall. It received eight nominations at the 72nd Academy Awards.
American Beauty follows Lester Burnham, a dissatisfied suburban father whose personal crisis affects his family and relationships. Spacey plays Lester, with Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Mena Suvari, and Chris Cooper in major roles.
The movie’s five wins made it one of the most honored American films of its awards season. It is important to distinguish the film’s five victories from its eight nominations: the numbers refer to different stages of the Academy Awards process.