Editing American Beauty (1999 film) (section)

==Accolades==
{{main|List of accolades received by American Beauty}}
''American Beauty'' was not considered an immediate favorite to dominate the American awards season. Several other contenders opened at the end of 1999, and US critics spread their honors among them when compiling their end-of-year lists.<ref name="topsy">{{cite news|last=Lyman |first=Rick |date=March 27, 2000 |title='American Beauty' Tops the Oscars; Main Acting Awards Go to Kevin Spacey and Hilary Swank |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/27/movies/american-beauty-tops-oscars-main-acting-awards-go-kevin-spacey-hilary-swank.html |access-date=May 15, 2023}}</ref> The [[Chicago Film Critics Association]] and the [[Broadcast Film Critics Association]] named the film the best of 1999, but while the [[New York Film Critics Circle]], the [[National Society of Film Critics]] and the [[Los Angeles Film Critics Association]] recognized ''American Beauty'',<ref name="awards">[https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/180738/American-Beauty/awards "American Beauty (1999)"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524173223/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/180738/American-Beauty/awards |date=May 24, 2013 }}. New York Times Online. Retrieved January 14, 2010.</ref> they gave their top awards to other films.<ref name="topsy" /> By the end of the year, reports of a critical backlash suggested ''American Beauty'' was the underdog in the race for Best Picture;<ref name="backlash">{{Cite web |last=Kilday |first=Gregg |date=January 8, 2001 |title=Road to best pic: An 'American' dream |url=https://variety.com/2001/film/awards/road-to-best-pic-an-american-dream-1117791364/amp/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503052513/https://variety.com/2001/film/awards/road-to-best-pic-an-american-dream-1117791364/amp/ |archive-date=May 3, 2020 |access-date=September 6, 2020 |website=Variety}}</ref> however, at the Golden Globe Awards in January 2000, ''American Beauty'' won [[Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama|Best Film]], [[Golden Globe Award for Best Director|Best Director]] and [[Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay|Best Screenplay]].<ref name="awards" />

As the nominations for the [[72nd Academy Awards]] approached, a frontrunner had not emerged.<ref name="topsy" /> DreamWorks had launched a major campaign for ''American Beauty'' five weeks before ballots were due to be sent to the 5,600 Academy Award voters. Its campaign combined traditional advertising and publicity with more focused strategies.<ref name="TopAds">{{cite news |last1=Wallace |first1=Amy |title='Beauty' Tops in Trade Ad Promotions |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-mar-15-ca-8872-story.html |access-date=August 12, 2023 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=March 15, 2000 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230812001223/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-mar-15-ca-8872-story.html |archive-date=August 12, 2023}}</ref> Although [[direct mail]] campaigning was prohibited, DreamWorks reached voters by promoting the film in "casual, comfortable settings" in voters' communities. The studio's candidate for [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]] the previous year, ''[[Saving Private Ryan]]'', lost to ''[[Shakespeare in Love]]'', so the studio took a new approach by hiring outsiders to provide input for the campaign. It hired three veteran consultants, who told the studio to "think small".

Nancy Willen encouraged DreamWorks to produce a special about the making of ''American Beauty'', to set up displays of the film in the communities' bookstores, and to arrange a question-and-answer session with Mendes for the [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]]. [[Dale Olson]] advised the studio to advertise in free publications that circulated in [[Beverly Hills]]—home to many voters—in addition to major newspapers. Olson arranged to screen ''American Beauty'' to about 1,000 members of the Actors Fund of America, as many participating actors were also voters. Bruce Feldman took writer Alan Ball to the [[Santa Barbara International Film Festival]], where Ball attended a private dinner in honor of [[Anthony Hopkins]], meeting several voters who were in attendance.<ref>{{cite news|last=Wallace |first=Amy |date=March 28, 2000 |title=Aggressive campaign may have helped 'Beauty's' win |work=Los Angeles Times |via=[[The Journal Gazette]]}}</ref>

In February 2000, ''American Beauty'' was nominated for eight Academy Awards; its closest rivals, ''[[The Cider House Rules (film)|The Cider House Rules]]'' and ''[[The Insider (film)|The Insider]]'', received seven nominations each. In March 2000, the major industry labor organizations{{refn|The [[Writers Guild of America]], the [[Screen Actors Guild]], the [[Producers Guild of America]], the [[American Society of Cinematographers]], and the [[Directors Guild of America]]<ref name="topsy" />|group="nb"}} all awarded their top honors to ''American Beauty''; perceptions had shifted—the film was now the favorite to dominate the Academy Awards.<ref name="topsy" /> ''American Beauty''{{'}}s closest rival for Best Picture was still ''The Cider House Rules'', from [[Miramax]]. Both studios mounted aggressive campaigns; DreamWorks bought 38 percent more advertising space in ''Variety'' than Miramax.<ref name=Karger>{{cite magazine|last=Karger |first=Dave |date=March 10, 2000 |title=''The Cider House Rules'' challenges ''American Beauty''|magazine=Entertainment Weekly |url=https://ew.com/article/2000/03/10/cider-house-rules-challenges-american-beauty/ |access-date=May 15, 2023}}</ref> On March 26, 2000, ''American Beauty'' won five Academy Awards: Best Picture, [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]], [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]] (Spacey), [[Best Original Screenplay]] and [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]].<ref name=":0">{{cite news|last=Lyman |first=Rick |date=March 28, 2000 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/28/movies/oscar-victory-finally-lifts-the-cloud-for-dreamworks.html |title=Oscar Victory Finally Lifts The Cloud for DreamWorks |work=The New York Times |page=E1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161110005202/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/28/movies/oscar-victory-finally-lifts-the-cloud-for-dreamworks.html |archive-date=November 10, 2016}}</ref>{{refn|The Best Director award was presented to Mendes by Spielberg.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Best Directors |url=https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/headshot-of-american-director-steven-spielberg-and-british-news-photo/3201969#/26th-march-2000-headshot-of-american-director-steven-spielberg-and-picture-id3201969 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180526045125/https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/headshot-of-american-director-steven-spielberg-and-british-news-photo/3201969#/26th-march-2000-headshot-of-american-director-steven-spielberg-and-picture-id3201969 |archive-date=May 26, 2018 |access-date=May 25, 2018 |website=Getty Images|date=April 2, 2004 }}</ref>|group="nb"}}

At the [[53rd British Academy Film Awards]], ''American Beauty'' won six of the 14 awards for which it was nominated: [[BAFTA Award for Best Film|Best Film]], [[BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role|Best Actor]], [[BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role|Best Actress]] (Bening), [[BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]], [[BAFTA Award for Best Film Music|Best Film Music]] and [[BAFTA Award for Best Editing|Best Editing]].<ref name="awards" />

In March 2000, the Publicists Guild of America recognized DreamWorks for the best film publicity campaign.<ref name=":1">McNary, Dave (March 23, 2000). "Pubs tap 'Beauty,' 'Wing{{'"}}. ''Variety''.</ref>

===MTV Movie Awards controversy===

In April 2000, controversy arose when the [[2000 MTV Movie Awards]] initially nominated ''American Beauty'' for their annual award for [[MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss|Best Kiss]] between Kevin Spacey as Lester Burnham and Mena Suvari as Angela Hayes. DreamWorks rejected [[MTV]]'s request for a clip, stating that they did not want to glorify the "inappropriate" kiss between the characters, a 42-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl. MTV rescinded the film's nomination afterward.<ref>{{cite web |date=April 21, 2000 |title=American Beauty's screen kiss is too hot for MTV |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/apr/21/news3 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140509003936/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/apr/21/news3 |archive-date=May 9, 2014 |access-date=August 12, 2023 |website=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

===Retrospective accolades===

In 2006, the [[Writers Guild of America]] ranked the screenplay number 38 on its list of the 101&nbsp;greatest screenplays.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Savage, Sophia |date=February 27, 2013 |title=WGA Lists Greatest Screenplays, From 'Casablanca' and 'Godfather' to 'Memento' and 'Notorious' |url=http://www.wga.org/subpage_newsevents.aspx?id=1807 |website=WGA.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060813151310/http://www.wga.org/subpage_newsevents.aspx?id=1807 |archive-date=August 13, 2006 |access-date=February 28, 2013}}</ref>