Editing American Beauty (1999 film) (section)

==Production==

===Development===
Alan Ball began writing ''American Beauty'' as a play in the early 1990s, partly inspired by the media circus that accompanied the [[Amy Fisher]] trial in 1992.<ref name="kazan 25" />  He shelved the play after deciding that the story would not work on stage. After spending the next few years writing for television, Ball revived the idea in 1997 when attempting to break into the film industry after several frustrating years writing for the television sitcoms ''[[Grace Under Fire]]'' and ''[[Cybill]]''. He joined the [[United Talent Agency]], where his representative, Andrew Cannava, suggested he write a [[spec script]] to "reintroduce [himself] to the town as a screenwriter". Ball pitched three ideas to Cannava: two conventional romantic comedies and ''American Beauty.''{{refn|At that point called ''American Rose''.<ref name="fanshawe" />|group="nb"}}<ref name="cohen 07-03">{{cite magazine|last=Cohen |first=David S. |date=March 7, 2000 |title=Scripter Ball hits a home run |magazine=Variety}}</ref> Despite the story's lack of an easily marketable concept, Cannava selected ''American Beauty'' because he felt it was the one for which Ball had the most passion.<ref name="chumo 26">{{harvnb|Chumo II|2000|p=26}}</ref> While developing the script, Ball created another television sitcom, ''[[Oh, Grow Up]]''. He channeled his anger and frustration at having to accede to network demands on that show—and during his tenures on ''Grace Under Fire'' and ''Cybill''—into writing ''American Beauty''.<ref name="cohen 07-03" />

Ball did not expect to sell the script, believing it would act as more of a calling card, but ''American Beauty'' drew interest from several production bodies.<ref name="chumo 27" /> Cannava passed the script to several producers, including [[Dan Jinks]] and [[Bruce Cohen]], who took it to [[DreamWorks Pictures|DreamWorks]].<ref>{{harvnb|Kazan|2000|p=28}}</ref> With the help of executives Glenn Williamson and Bob Cooper, and [[Steven Spielberg]] in his capacity as studio partner, Ball was convinced to develop the project at DreamWorks;<ref name="kazan 28-29">{{harvnb|Kazan|2000|pages=28–29}}</ref> he received assurances from the studio—known at the time for its more conventional fare—that it would not "iron the [edges] out".{{refn|Ball said he decided on DreamWorks after an accidental meeting with Spielberg in the [[Amblin Entertainment]] parking lot, where the writer became confident that Spielberg "got" the script and its intended tone.<ref name="kazan 28-29" />|group="nb"}}<ref name="chumo 27">{{harvnb|Chumo II|2000|p=27}}</ref> In an unusual move, DreamWorks decided not to [[option (filmmaking)|option]] the script;<ref>{{harvnb|Kazan|2000|p=30}}</ref> instead, in April 1998, the studio bought it outright<ref name="grateful">{{cite magazine|date=April 14, 1998 |title=DreamWorks grateful for 'American Beauty' |magazine=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]}}</ref> for $250,000,<ref name="weinraub" /> outbidding [[Fox Searchlight Pictures]], [[October Films]], [[The Samuel Goldwyn Company]], and [[Lakeshore Entertainment]].<ref name="courts">{{cite magazine|last=Cox |first=Dan |date=April 14, 1998 |title=D'Works courts 'Beauty' spec |magazine=Variety |url=https://variety.com/1998/film/news/d-works-courts-beauty-spec-1117469721/ |access-date=May 15, 2023}}</ref> DreamWorks planned to make the film for $6–8&nbsp;million.<ref name="lowenstein 251">{{Harvnb|Lowenstein|2008|p=251}}</ref>

Jinks and Cohen involved Ball throughout the film's development, including casting and director selection. The producers met with about twenty interested directors,<ref name="kazan 31">{{harvnb|Kazan|2000|page=31}}</ref> several of whom were considered [[A-list]] at the time. Ball was not keen on the more well-known directors because he believed their involvement would increase the budget and lead DreamWorks to become "nervous about the content".<ref name="chumo 28" /> Nevertheless, DreamWorks offered the film to [[Mike Nichols]] and [[Robert Zemeckis]]; neither accepted.<ref name="lowenstein 251" /> In the same year, Sam Mendes (then a theater director) revived the musical ''[[Cabaret (musical)|Cabaret]]'' in New York with fellow director [[Rob Marshall]]. Beth Swofford of the [[Creative Artists Agency]] arranged meetings for Mendes with studio figures in Los Angeles to see if film direction was a possibility.{{refn|Mendes had considered the idea before; he almost took on ''[[The Wings of the Dove (1997 film)|The Wings of the Dove]]''&nbsp;(1997) and had previously failed to secure financing for an adaptation of the play ''[[The Rise and Fall of Little Voice]]'', which he directed in 1992. The play made it to the screen in 1998 as ''[[Little Voice (film)|Little Voice]]'', without Mendes's involvement.<ref name="lowenstein 248">{{harvnb|Lowenstein|2008|p=248}}</ref>|group="nb"}} Mendes came across ''American Beauty'' in a pile of eight scripts at Swofford's house,<ref name="lowenstein 249">{{Harvnb|Lowenstein|2008|p=249}}</ref> and knew immediately that it was the one he wanted to make; early in his career, he had been inspired by how the film ''[[Paris, Texas (film)|Paris, Texas]]''&nbsp;(1984) presented contemporary America as a mythic landscape and he saw the same theme in ''American Beauty'', as well as parallels with his own childhood.<ref name="lowenstein 250-251">{{harvnb|Lowenstein|2008|pp=250–251}}</ref> Mendes later met with Spielberg; impressed by Mendes's productions of ''[[Oliver!]]'' and ''Cabaret'',<ref name="fanshawe">{{cite news|last=Fanshawe |first=Simon |date=January 22, 2000 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/jan/22/features.weekend |title=Sam smiles |work=[[The Guardian]]  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161223154959/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/jan/22/features.weekend |archive-date=December 23, 2016 |url-status=live |page=32}}</ref> Spielberg encouraged him to consider ''American Beauty''.<ref name="lowenstein 251" />

Mendes found that he still had to convince DreamWorks's production executives to let him direct.<ref name="lowenstein 251" /> He had already discussed the film with Jinks and Cohen, and felt they supported him.<ref name="lowenstein 252">{{Harvnb|Lowenstein|2008|p=252}}</ref> Ball was also keen; having seen ''Cabaret'', he was impressed with Mendes's "keen visual sense" and thought he did not make obvious choices. Ball felt that Mendes liked to look under the story's surface, a talent he felt would be a good fit with the themes of ''American Beauty''.<ref name="chumo 28" /> Mendes's background also reassured him, because of the prominent role the playwright usually has in a theater production.<ref name="kazan 31" /> Over two meetings—the first with Cooper, [[Walter Parkes]], and [[Laurie MacDonald]],<ref name="lowenstein 252" /> the second with Cooper alone<ref name="lowenstein 253" />—Mendes [[pitch (filmmaking)|pitched]] himself to the studio.<ref name="lowenstein 252" /> The studio soon approached Mendes with a deal to direct for the minimum salary allowed under [[Directors Guild of America]] rules—$150,000. Mendes accepted, and later recalled that after taxes and his agent's commission, he only earned $38,000.<ref name="lowenstein 253">{{Harvnb|Lowenstein|2008|p=253}}</ref> In June 1998, DreamWorks confirmed that it had contracted Mendes to direct the film.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Hindes |first=Andrew |date=June 16, 1998 |title=Staging a transfer |magazine=Variety |url=https://variety.com/1998/film/news/staging-a-transfer-1117471883/ |access-date=August 11, 2023}}</ref>

===Writing===
{{Quote box|quote=<nowiki>"I think I was writing about ... how it's becoming harder and harder to live an authentic life when we live in a world that seems to focus on appearance. ... For all the differences between now and the [1950s], in a lot of ways this is just as oppressively conformist a time. ... You see so many people who strive to live the unauthentic life and then they get there and they wonder why they're not happy. ... I didn't realize it when I sat down to write [</nowiki>''American Beauty''<nowiki>], but these ideas are important to me."</nowiki>|align=right|width=30em|style=padding:8px|source=—Alan Ball, 2000<ref name="chumo 32">{{harvnb|Chumo II|2000|p=32}}</ref>}}
Ball was partly inspired by two encounters he had in the early 1990s. In about 1991–92, Ball saw a plastic bag blowing in the wind outside the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]]. He watched the bag for ten minutes, saying later that it provoked an "unexpected emotional response".<ref>{{harvnb|Kazan|2000|p=24}}</ref> In 1992, Ball became preoccupied with the media circus that accompanied the [[Amy Fisher]] trial.<ref name="chumo 26" /> Discovering a comic book telling of the scandal, he was struck by how quickly it had become commercialized.<ref name="kazan 25">{{harvnb|Kazan|2000|p=25}}</ref> He said he "felt like there was a real story underneath [that was] more fascinating and way more tragic" than the story presented to the public,<ref name="chumo 26" /> and attempted to turn the idea into a play. Ball produced around 40 pages,<ref name="kazan 25" /> but stopped when he realized it would work better as a film.<ref name="chumo 26" /> He felt that because of the visual themes, and because each character's story was "intensely personal", it could not be done on a stage. All the main characters appeared in this version, but Carolyn did not feature strongly; Jim and Jim instead had much larger roles.<ref>{{harvnb|Kazan|2000|p=37}}</ref>

Ball based Lester's story on aspects of his own life.<ref name="Chumo II 2000 pages=26–27">{{harvnb|Chumo II|2000|pages=26–27}}</ref> Lester's re-examination of his life parallels feelings Ball had in his mid-30s;<ref name="chumo 32-33">{{harvnb|Chumo II|2000|pages=32–33}}</ref> like Lester, Ball put aside his passions to work in jobs he hated for people he did not respect.<ref name="Chumo II 2000 pages=26–27" /> Scenes in Ricky's household reflect Ball's own childhood experiences.<ref name="chumo 27" /> Ball suspected his father was homosexual and used the idea to create Col. Fitts, a man who "gave up his chance to be himself".<ref name="kilday">{{cite magazine|last=Kilday |first=Gregg |date=January 18, 2000 |title=Worth a Closer Look |magazine=The Advocate |pages=91–92 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jmQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA91 |access-date=May 15, 2023}}</ref> Ball said the script's mix of comedy and drama was not intentional, but that it came unconsciously from his own outlook on life. He said the juxtaposition produced a starker contrast, giving each trait more impact than if they appeared alone.<ref name="chumo 30">{{harvnb|Chumo II|2000|p=30}}</ref>

In the script that was sent to prospective actors and directors, Lester and Angela had sex;<ref name="kazan 32" /> by the time of shooting, Ball had rewritten the scene to the final version.<ref name="chumo 33">{{harvnb|Chumo II|2000|p=33}}</ref> Ball initially rebuffed counsel from others that he change the script, feeling they were being puritanical; the final impetus to alter the scene came from DreamWorks's then-president Walter Parkes. He convinced Ball by indicating that in [[Greek mythology]], the hero "has a moment of epiphany before&nbsp;... tragedy occurs".<ref name="kazan 32-33">{{harvnb|Kazan|2000|pages=32–33}}</ref> Ball later said his anger when writing the first draft had blinded him to the idea that Lester needed to refuse sex with Angela to complete his emotional journey—to achieve redemption.<ref name="chumo 33" /> Jinks and Cohen asked Ball not to alter the scene right away, as they felt it would be inappropriate to make changes to the script before a director had been hired.<ref name="kazan 33">{{harvnb|Kazan|2000|p=33}}</ref> Early drafts also included a flashback to Col. Fitts's service in the Marines, a sequence that unequivocally established his homosexual leanings. In love with another Marine, Col. Fitts sees the man die and comes to believe that he is being punished for the "sin" of being gay. Ball removed the sequence because it did not fit the structure of the rest of the film—Col. Fitts was the only character to have a flashback<ref name="chumo 33-34" />—and because it removed the element of surprise from Col. Fitts's later pass at Lester.<ref name="kazan 33" /> Ball said he had to write it for his own benefit to know what happened to Col. Fitts, though all that remained in later drafts was subtext.<ref name="chumo 33-34">{{harvnb|Chumo II|2000|pages=33–34}}</ref>

Ball remained involved throughout production;<ref name="kazan 31" /> he had signed a television show development deal, so had to get permission from his producers to take a year off to be close to ''American Beauty''.<ref name="kazan 32">{{harvnb|Kazan|2000|p=32}}</ref> Ball was on-set for rewrites and to help interpret his script for all but two days of filming.<ref name="kazan 35">{{harvnb|Kazan|2000|p=35}}</ref> His original bookend scenes—in which Ricky and Jane are prosecuted for Lester's murder after being framed by Col. Fitts<ref name="wolk">{{cite magazine|last=Wolk |first=Josh |date=March 27, 2000 |url=http://www.ew.com/article/2000/03/27/why-american-beauty-won-best-script |title=Pitching Fitts |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080922122219/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0%2C%2C85090%2C00.html |archive-date=September 22, 2008 |url-status=live |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]}}</ref>—were excised in [[post-production]];<ref name="chumo 26" /> the writer later felt the scenes were unnecessary, saying they were a reflection of his "anger and cynicism" at the time of writing {{crossreference|(see {{slink||Editing}})}}.<ref name="chumo 30" /> Ball and Mendes revised the script twice before it was sent to the actors, and twice more before the first read-through.<ref name="chumo 28" /> The script was written between June 1997 and February 1998.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Inside Film Online - American Beauty Screenwriter Alan Ball Conducts Case Study at the IFP/West Screenwriters Conference |url=http://www.insidefilm.com/alan_ball.html |url-status=live |website=insidefilm.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831020706/http://www.insidefilm.com/alan_ball.html |archive-date=August 31, 2021 |access-date=August 31, 2021}}</ref>

The shooting script features a scene in Angela's car in which Ricky and Jane talk about death and beauty; the scene differed from earlier versions, which set it as a "big scene on a freeway"<ref name="chumo 35" /> in which the three witness a car crash and see a dead body.<ref name="kazan 36">{{harvnb|Kazan|2000|p=36}}</ref> The change was a practical decision, as the production was behind schedule and they needed to cut costs.<ref name="chumo 35" /> The schedule called for two days to be spent filming the crash, but only half a day was available.<ref name="kazan 36" /> Ball agreed, but only if the scene could retain a line of Ricky's where he reflects on having once seen a dead homeless woman: "When you see something like that, it's like God is looking right at you, just for a second. And if you're careful, you can look right back." Jane asks: "And what do you see?" Ricky: "Beauty." Ball said, "They wanted to cut that scene. They said it's not important. I said, 'You're out of your fucking mind. It's one of the most important scenes in the movie!'&nbsp;... If any one line is the heart and soul of this movie, that is the line."<ref name="chumo 35">{{harvnb|Chumo II|2000|p=35}}</ref> Another scene was rewritten to accommodate the loss of the freeway sequence; set in a schoolyard, it presents a "turning point" for Jane in that she chooses to walk home with Ricky instead of going with Angela.<ref name="kazan 36" /> By the end of filming, the script had been through ten drafts.<ref name="chumo 28">{{harvnb|Chumo II|2000|p=28}}</ref>

===Casting===
[[File:Principal cast of American Beauty.jpg|275px|thumb|alt=Seven head-and-shoulder shots, arranged in two rows with four on the top, three on the bottom. Top row: a middle-aged, lightly balding, smiling man in a suit; a middle-aged woman with short, spiky, highlighted hair and a tailored jacket smiles with her eyes closed; a smiling young woman with tied-back hair and a v-necked top; a young woman with shoulder-length fringed-bob hair wears a sleeveless sundress. Bottom row, left to right: a middle-aged man with thick hair; a young man, posed in front of a taxi, wearing a bodywarmer; a middle-aged woman wearing a sleeveless halter neck dress gives a large smile.|The principal actors and actresses<br />''First row'': Wes Bentley, Chris Cooper, Mena Suvari, Kevin Spacey<br />''Second row'': Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Allison Janney]]
Mendes had Kevin Spacey and Bening in mind for the leads from the beginning, but DreamWorks executives were unenthusiastic. DreamWorks suggested several alternatives, including [[Bruce Willis]], [[Kevin Costner]], and [[John Travolta]] to play Lester (the role was also offered to [[Chevy Chase]], but he turned it down),<ref>{{Cite news |last=Evans |first=Bradford |work=[[Vulture (website)|Vulture]] |date=September 22, 2011 |title=The Lost Roles of Chevy Chase |url=https://www.vulture.com/2011/09/the-lost-roles-of-chevy-chase.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200608015626/https://www.vulture.com/2011/09/the-lost-roles-of-chevy-chase.html |archive-date=June 8, 2020 |access-date=May 9, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Chevy Chase: 'I Wasn't Cut Out To Be a Romantic Leading Man'  |date=September 17, 2009 |url=https://parade.com/40203/jeannewolf/chevy-chase-community/ |magazine=[[Parade (magazine)|Parade]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230105061818/https://parade.com/40203/jeannewolf/chevy-chase-community/ |archive-date=January 5, 2023 |access-date=January 5, 2023}}</ref> while [[Helen Hunt]] or [[Holly Hunter]] were proposed to play Carolyn. Mendes did not want a big star "weighing the film down"; he felt Spacey was the right choice based on his performances in the 1995 films ''[[The Usual Suspects]]'' and ''[[Seven (1995 film)|Seven]]'', and 1992's ''[[Glengarry Glen Ross (film)|Glengarry Glen Ross]]''.<ref name="lowenstein 253–254">{{Harvnb|Lowenstein|2008|pp=253–254}}</ref> Spacey was surprised; he said, "I usually play characters who are very quick, very manipulative and smart. ... I usually wade in dark, sort of treacherous waters. This is a man living one step at a time, playing by his instincts. This is actually much closer to me, to what I am, than those other parts."<ref name="weinraub" /> Mendes offered Annette Bening the role of Carolyn without DreamWorks' consent; although executives were upset at Mendes,<ref name="lowenstein 253–254" /> by September 1998, DreamWorks had entered negotiations with Spacey and Bening.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Fleming |first=Michael |date=September 15, 1998 |title=Spacey nears 'Beauty' deal |magazine=Variety |url=https://variety.com/1998/film/news/spacey-nears-beauty-deal-1117480399/ |access-date=May 15, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last=Fleming |first=Michael |date=September 23, 1998 |title=Bening in 'Beauty' |magazine=Variety |url=https://variety.com/1998/film/news/bening-in-beauty-1117480690/ |access-date=May 15, 2023}}</ref>

Spacey loosely based Lester's early "schlubby" deportment on [[Walter Matthau]].<ref name="chapter 2">{{harvnb|Mendes|Ball|2000|loc=chapter 2}}</ref> During the film, Lester's physique improves from flabby to toned;<ref name="gordinier" /> Spacey worked out during filming to improve his body,<ref name="chapter 22">{{harvnb|Mendes|Ball|2000|loc=chapter 22}}</ref> but because Mendes shot the scenes out of chronological order, Spacey varied postures to portray the stages.<ref name="gordinier">Gordinier, Jeff (March 1, 2000). "Kevin Spacey&nbsp;– American Beauty". ''Entertainment Weekly'' (529).</ref> Before filming, Mendes and Spacey analyzed [[Jack Lemmon]]'s performance in ''[[The Apartment]]''&nbsp;(1960), because Mendes wanted Spacey to emulate "the way [Lemmon] moved, the way he looked, the way he was in that office and the way he was an ordinary man and yet a special man".<ref name="weinraub" /> Spacey's voiceover is a throwback to ''[[Sunset Boulevard (film)|Sunset Boulevard]]''&nbsp;(1950), which is also narrated in retrospect by a dead character. Mendes felt it evoked Lester's—and the film's—loneliness.<ref name="chapter 1">{{harvnb|Mendes|Ball|2000|loc=chapter 1}}</ref> Bening recalled women from her youth to inform her performance: "I used to babysit constantly. You'd go to church and see how people present themselves on the outside, and then be inside their house and see the difference." Bening and a hair stylist collaborated to create a "[[Parent-Teacher Association|PTA]] president coif" hairstyle, and Mendes and production designer [[Naomi Shohan]] researched mail-order catalogs to better establish Carolyn's environment of a "spotless suburban manor".<ref name="gordinier 2" /> To help Bening get into Carolyn's mindset, Mendes gave her music that he believed Carolyn would like.<ref name="lowenstein 257-258">{{harvnb|Lowenstein|2008|pp=257–258}}</ref> He lent Bening the [[Bobby Darin]] version of the song "[[Don't Rain on My Parade]]", which she enjoyed and persuaded the director to include it for a scene in which Carolyn sings in her car.<ref name="gordinier 2">Gordinier, Jeff (March 1, 2000). "Annette Bening&nbsp;– American Beauty". ''Entertainment Weekly'' (529).</ref>

[[Kirsten Dunst]] was offered the role of Angela Hayes, but she turned it down because of the character and Lester's sexual behaviors.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 30, 2002 |title=Kiss and tell from Kirsten Dunst |url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/09/29/1033283387230.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105163858/http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/09/29/1033283387230.html |archive-date=November 5, 2012 |access-date=July 28, 2021 |website=The Age}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=April 14, 2000 |title=Kirsten Dunst Keeps Her Clothes on |url=https://www.tvguide.com/news/kirsten-dunst-keeps-39378/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230105233540/https://www.tvguide.com/news/kirsten-dunst-keeps-39378/ |archive-date=January 5, 2023 |access-date=January 5, 2023 |website=[[TV Guide]]}}</ref> [[Sarah Michelle Gellar]] also declined the same role, due to scheduling conflicts with ''[[Buffy The Vampire Slayer]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/jan/30/sarah-michelle-gellar-interview-wolf-pack-buffy|title='A lot of the demons seem a little cheesy now': Sarah Michelle Gellar on Buffy, her burnout and her comeback|first=Elle|last=Hunt|date=January 30, 2023|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref>

For the roles of Jane, Ricky, and Angela, DreamWorks gave Mendes ''carte blanche''.<ref name="lowenstein 257">{{harvnb|Lowenstein|2008|p=257}}</ref> By November 1998, [[Thora Birch]], [[Wes Bentley]], and [[Mena Suvari]] had been cast in the parts<ref name="beloved">{{cite magazine|last=Honeycutt |first=Kirk |date=November 6, 1998 |title='Beloved' actor sees 'Beauty' |magazine=The Hollywood Reporter}}</ref>—in Birch's case, despite the fact she was 16 years old and was deemed [[underage]] for a brief nude scene, which her parents had to approve. Child labor representatives accompanied Birch's parents on set during the filming of the nude scene.<ref name="EbertAnswerMan">{{Cite news |last=Ebert |first=Roger |title=Movie Answer Man |date=October 10, 1999 |work=Chicago Sun-Times |url=https://rogerebert.com/answer-man/movie-answer-man-10101999 |url-status=live |access-date=February 3, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602233632/http://www.rogerebert.com/answer-man/movie-answer-man-10101999 |archive-date=June 2, 2013 |quote=It is not illegal to have people under 18 nude or partially nude on film. The California Child Labor Board approved the scene, and its representative was on the set when it was filmed, as were Thora's parents.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.deseret.com/2007/3/2/20004949/there-s-a-reason-for-r-rating |title=There's a reason for R rating |date=March 1, 2007 |work=[[Deseret News]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304024012/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/660199860/Theres-a-reason-for-R-rating.html |archive-date=March 4, 2016}}</ref> Bentley overcame competition from top actors under the age of 25 to be cast.<ref name="beloved" /> The 2009 documentary ''[[My Big Break]]'' followed Bentley, and several other young actors, before and after he landed the part.<ref>{{cite news|last=Verniere |first=James |date=September 18, 2009 |title=Hub Film Fest: It's Reel Time |work=[[Boston Herald]] |page=E20}}</ref> To prepare, Mendes provided Bentley with a video camera, telling the actor to film what Ricky would.<ref name="lowenstein 257-258" /> [[Peter Gallagher]] and [[Allison Janney]] were cast (as Buddy Kane and Barbara Fitts) after filming began in December 1998.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Galloway |first=Stephen |date=December 23, 1998 |title=Gallagher role: thing of 'Beauty' |magazine=The Hollywood Reporter}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last=Harris |first=Dana |date=December 28, 1998 |title=Allison Janney set for 'Nurse,' 'Beauty' |magazine=The Hollywood Reporter}}</ref> Mendes gave Janney a book of paintings by [[Edvard Munch]]. He told her, "Your character is in there somewhere."<ref name="lowenstein 257-258" /> Mendes cut much of Barbara's dialogue,<ref>{{harvnb|Mendes|Ball|2000|loc=chapter 16}}</ref> including conversations between Colonel Frank Fitts and her, as he felt that what needed to be said about the pair—their humanity and vulnerability—was conveyed successfully through their shared moments of silence.<ref>{{harvnb|Mendes|Ball|2000|loc=chapter 6}}</ref> [[Chris Cooper]] plays Colonel Frank Fitts, [[Scott Bakula]] plays Jim Olmeyer, and [[Sam Robards]] plays Jim Berkley.<ref name="jackson" /> Jim and Jim were deliberately depicted as the most normal, happy—and boring—couple in the film.<ref name="ball">{{cite magazine|last=Ball |first=Alan |date=March 28, 2000 |title=''Beauty'' and the Box Office |magazine=[[The Advocate (LGBT magazine)|The Advocate]] |page=11 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oWMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA11 |access-date=May 15, 2023}}</ref> Ball's inspiration for the characters came from a thought he had after seeing a "bland, boring, heterosexual couple" who wore matching clothes: "I can't wait for the time when a gay couple can be just as boring." Ball also included aspects of a gay couple he knew who had the same forename.<ref name="kilday" />

Mendes insisted on two weeks of cast rehearsals, although the sessions were not as formal as he was used to in the theater, and the actors could not be present at every one.<ref name="lowenstein 257-258" /> Several improvisations and suggestions by the actors were incorporated into the script.<ref name="chumo 28" /> An early scene showing the Burnhams leaving home for work was inserted later on to show the low point that Carolyn and Lester's relationship had reached.<ref name="chapter 1" /> Spacey and Bening worked to create a sense of the love that Lester and Carolyn once had for one another; for example, the scene in which Lester almost seduces Carolyn after the pair argues over Lester's buying a car was originally "strictly contentious".<ref name="kazan 34">{{harvnb|Kazan|2000|p=34}}</ref>

===Filming===
Principal photography lasted about 50 days,<ref name="chapter 19">{{harvnb|Mendes|Ball|2000|loc=chapter 19}}</ref> from December 14, 1998<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Players |date=November 6, 1998 |magazine=Variety}}</ref> to February 1999.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Fleming |first=Michael |date=February 23, 1999 |title=Spacey, DeVito lend 'Hospitality' |magazine=Variety |url=https://variety.com/1999/film/news/spacey-devito-lend-hospitality-1117491600/ |access-date=May 15, 2023}}</ref> ''American Beauty'' was filmed on soundstages at the Warner Bros. [[backlot]] in Burbank, California, and at [[Hancock Park, Los Angeles|Hancock Park]] and [[Brentwood, Los Angeles|Brentwood]] in Los Angeles.<ref name="shohan">{{cite magazine|title=From the drafting board: Naomi Shohan |url=https://variety.com/2000/film/news/from-the-drafting-board-naomi-shohan-1117778719/ |date=February 23, 2000 |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |access-date=August 12, 2023}}</ref> The aerial shots at the beginning and end of the film were captured in [[Sacramento, California]],<ref name="newsreview">{{cite news|last=Costello |first=Becca |date=September 30, 2004 |title=It was filmed in Sacramento |work=[[Sacramento News & Review]] |url=https://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/content/arts-entertainment/31481/ |access-date=May 15, 2023}}</ref> and many of the school scenes were shot at [[South High School (Torrance)|South High School]] in [[Torrance, California]]; several extras in the gym crowd were South High students.<ref>{{cite news|last=Matsumoto |first=Jon |date=July 22, 2001 |title=You'll Need a Permission Slip for That |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-jul-22-ca-25120-story.html |access-date=May 15, 2023}}</ref> The film is set in an [[upper middle-class]] neighborhood in an unidentified American town. Production designer [[Naomi Shohan]] likened the locale to [[Evanston, Illinois]], but said, "it's not about a place, it's about an archetype... The milieu was pretty much Anywhere, USA—upwardly mobile suburbia." The intent was for the setting to reflect the characters, who are also archetypes. Shohan said, "All of them are very strained, and their lives are constructs." The Burnhams' household was designed as the reverse of the Fitts'—the former a pristine ideal, but graceless and lacking in "inner balance", leading to Carolyn's desire to at least give it the appearance of a "perfect all-American household"; the Fitts's home is depicted in "exaggerated darkness [and] symmetry".<ref name="shohan" />

[[File:Aerial view of Sacramento.jpg|250px|thumb|alt=High-angled aerial shot of a developed city, a suburban grid dominates the lower half of the image. A river bisects the city from the left before forking; the first fork continues up and to the right edge of the image; the second curves up and around to finish on the left, enclosing industrial units and other domestic properties.|left|The film used aerial shots of [[Sacramento, California]], at the beginning and end of the film to show where the Burnhams live.<ref name="newsreview" />]]
The production selected two adjacent properties on the Warner backlot's "Blondie Street" for the Burnham and Fitts's homes.{{refn|One of which director of photography Conrad Hall had filmed for ''[[Divorce American Style]]''&nbsp;(1967).<ref name="impeccable 75" />|group="nb"}}<ref name="shohan" /> The crew rebuilt the houses to incorporate false rooms that established lines of sight—between Ricky and Jane's bedroom windows, and between Ricky's bedroom and Lester's garage.<ref name="impeccable 75">{{harvnb|Probst|Heuring|Holben|Thomson|2000|p=75}}</ref> The garage windows were designed specifically to obtain the crucial shot toward the end of the film in which Col. Fitts—watching from Ricky's bedroom—mistakenly assumes that Lester is paying Ricky for sex.<ref name="chapter 22" /> Mendes made sure to establish the line of sight early on in the film to make the audience feel a sense of familiarity with the shot.<ref>{{harvnb|Mendes|Ball|2000|loc=chapter 10}}</ref> The house interiors were filmed on the backlot, on location, and on soundstages when overhead shots were needed.<ref name="shohan" /> The inside of the Burnhams' home was shot at a house close to [[Interstate 405 (California)|Interstate 405]] and [[Sunset Boulevard]] in Los Angeles; the inside of the Fitts's home was shot in the city's Hancock Park neighborhood.<ref name="impeccable 75" /> Ricky's bedroom was designed to be cell-like to suggest his "monkish" personality, while at the same time blending with the high-tech equipment to reflect his voyeuristic side. The production deliberately minimized the use of red, as it was an important thematic signature elsewhere. The Burnhams' home uses cool blues, while the Fitts's is kept in a "depressed military palette".<ref name="shohan" />

Mendes's dominating visual style was deliberate and composed, with a minimalist design that provided "a sparse, almost surreal feeling—a bright, crisp, hard edged, near [[Magritte]]-like take on American suburbia"; Mendes constantly directed his set dressers to empty the frame. He made Lester's fantasy scenes "more fluid and graceful",<ref name="kemp 26" /> and Mendes made minimal use of [[steadicam]]s, feeling that stable shots generated more tension. For example, when Mendes used a slow push in to the Burnhams' dinner table, he held the shot because his training as a theater director taught him the importance of putting distance between the characters. He wanted to keep the tension in the scene, so he only cut away when Jane left the table.{{refn|The shot references a similar one in ''[[Ordinary People]]''&nbsp;(1980). Mendes included several such homages to other films; family photographs in the characters' homes were inserted to give them a sense of history, but also as a nod to the way [[Terrence Malick]] used still photographs in ''[[Badlands (film)|Badlands]]''&nbsp;(1973).<ref name="chapter 2" /> A shot of Lester's jogging was a homage to ''[[Marathon Man (film)|Marathon Man]]''&nbsp;(1976) and Mendes watched several films to help improve his ability to evoke a "heightened sense of style": ''[[The King of Comedy (film)|The King of Comedy]]''&nbsp;(1983), ''[[All That Jazz (film)|All That Jazz]]''&nbsp;(1979) and ''[[Rosemary's Baby (film)|Rosemary's Baby]]''&nbsp;(1968).<ref>{{harvnb|Mendes|Ball|2000|loc=chapter 21}}</ref>|group="nb"}}<ref name="chapter 2" /> Mendes used a hand-held camera for the scene in which Col. Fitts beats Ricky. Mendes said the camera provided the scene with a "kinetic&nbsp;... off-balance energy". He also went hand-held for the excerpts of Ricky's camcorder footage.<ref name="chapter 18">{{harvnb|Mendes|Ball|2000|loc=chapter 18}}</ref> Mendes took a long time to get the quality of Ricky's footage to the level he wanted.<ref name="chapter 2" /> For the plastic-bag footage, Mendes used wind machines to move the bag in the air. The scene took four takes; two by the [[second unit]] did not satisfy Mendes, so he shot the scene himself. He felt his first take lacked grace, but for the last attempt, he changed the location to the front of a brick wall and added leaves on the ground. Mendes was satisfied by the way the wall gave definition to the outline of the bag.<ref>{{harvnb|Lowenstein|2008|p=268}}</ref>

Mendes avoided using [[close-up]]s, believing the technique was overused. He also mentioned Spielberg's advice to imagine an audience silhouetted at the bottom of the camera monitor, to keep in mind that it was being shot for display on a {{convert|40|ft|m|sigfig=1|adj=on}} screen.<ref name="chapter 25">{{harvnb|Mendes|Ball|2000|loc=chapter 25}}</ref> Spielberg—who visited the set a few times—also advised Mendes not to worry about costs if he had a "great idea" toward the end of a long working day. Mendes said, "That happened three or four times, and they are all in the movie."<ref name="stein">{{cite news|last=Stein |first=Ruthe |date=September 12, 1999 |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1999/09/12/PK5266.DTL |title=From 'Cabaret' to California / Dark 'American Beauty' lures Sam Mendes to Hollywood |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |page=55 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803021235/https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/From-Cabaret-to-California-Dark-American-2909669.php |archive-date=August 3, 2021}}</ref> Despite Spielberg's support, DreamWorks and Mendes fought constantly over the schedule and budget, although the studio interfered little with the film's content.<ref name="kemp 26" /> Spacey, Bening and Hall worked for significantly less than their usual rates. ''American Beauty'' cost DreamWorks $15&nbsp;million to produce, slightly above their projected sum.<ref name="kemp 27">{{harvnb|Kemp|2000|p=27}}</ref> Mendes was so dissatisfied with his first three days' filming that he obtained permission from DreamWorks to reshoot the scenes. He said, "I started with a wrong scene, actually, a comedy scene.{{refn|The scene at the fast food outlet where Lester discovers Carolyn's affair.<ref name="chapter 22" />|group="nb"}} And the actors played it way too big:&nbsp;... it was badly shot, my fault, badly composed, my fault, bad costumes, my fault&nbsp;...; and everybody was doing what I was asking. It was all my fault." Aware that he was a novice, Mendes drew on the experience of Hall: "I made a very conscious decision early on, if I didn't understand something technically, to say, without embarrassment, 'I don't understand what you're talking about, please explain it.{{'"}}<ref name="weinraub">{{cite news|last=Weinraub |first=Bernard |date=September 12, 1999 |title=The New Season / Film: Stage to Screen; A Wunderkind Discovers the Wonders of Film |newspaper=The New York Times |page=271 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/12/movies/the-new-season-film-stage-to-screen-a-wunderkind-discovers-the-wonders-of-film.html |access-date=May 15, 2023}}</ref>

Mendes encouraged some improvisation; for example, when Lester masturbates in bed beside Carolyn, the director asked Spacey to improvise several euphemisms for the act in each take. Mendes said, "I wanted that not just because it was funny&nbsp;... but because I didn't want it to seem rehearsed. I wanted it to seem like he was blurting it out of his mouth without thinking. [Spacey] is so in control—I wanted him to break through." Spacey obliged, eventually coming up with 35 phrases, but Bening could not always keep a straight face, which meant the scene had to be shot ten times.<ref name="stein" /> The production used small amounts of [[computer-generated imagery]]. Most of the rose petals in Lester's fantasies were added in post-production,<ref name="chapter 4">{{harvnb|Mendes|Ball|2000|loc=chapter 4}}</ref> although some were real and had the wires holding them digitally removed.<ref name="chapter 5">{{harvnb|Mendes|Ball|2000|loc=chapter 5}}</ref> When Lester fantasizes about Angela in a rose-petal bath, the steam was real, save for in the overhead shot. To position the camera, a hole had to be cut in the ceiling, through which the steam escaped; it was instead added digitally.<ref name="chapter 11">{{harvnb|Mendes|Ball|2000|loc=chapter 11}}</ref>

===Editing===
''American Beauty'' was edited by [[Christopher Greenbury]] and [[Tariq Anwar (film editor)|Tariq Anwar]]; Greenbury began in the position, but had to leave halfway through post-production because of a scheduling conflict with ''[[Me, Myself & Irene]]''&nbsp;(2000). Mendes and an assistant edited the film for ten days between the appointments.<ref>{{harvnb|Lowenstein|2008|p=270}}</ref> Mendes realized during editing that the film was different from the one he had envisioned. He believed he had been making a "much more whimsical,&nbsp;... kaleidoscopic" film than what came together in the edit suite. Instead, Mendes was drawn to the emotion and darkness; he began to use the score and shots he had intended to discard to craft the film along these lines.<ref name="kemp 25-26">{{harvnb|Kemp|2000|pages=25–26}}</ref> In total, he cut about 30 minutes from his original edit.<ref name="chapter 19" />

The opening included a dream in which Lester imagines himself flying above the town. Mendes spent two days filming Spacey against [[chroma key|bluescreen]], but removed the sequence as he believed it to be too whimsical—"like a [[Coen brothers]] movie"—and therefore inappropriate for the tone he was trying to set.<ref name="chapter 2" /> The opening in the final cut reused a scene from the middle of the film where Jane tells Ricky to kill her father.<ref name="chapter 1" /> This scene was to be the revelation to the audience that the pair was not responsible for Lester's death, as the way it was scored and acted made it clear that Jane's request was not serious. However, in the portion he used in the opening—and when the full scene plays out later—Mendes used the score and a reaction shot of Ricky to leave a lingering ambiguity as to his guilt.<ref>{{harvnb|Mendes|Ball|2000|loc=chapter 20}}</ref> The subsequent shot—an aerial view of the neighborhood—was originally intended as the plate shot for the bluescreen effects in the dream sequence.<ref name="chapter 2" />

Mendes spent more time recutting the first ten minutes than the rest of the film taken together. He trialed several versions of the opening;<ref name="chapter 1" /> the first edit included bookend scenes in which Jane and Ricky are convicted of Lester's murder,<ref name="chapter 12">{{harvnb|Mendes|Ball|2000|loc=chapter 12}}</ref> but Mendes excised these in the last week of editing<ref name="chapter 1" /> because he felt they made the film lose its mystery,<ref>{{cite magazine|date=July 7, 2000 |title='Beauty' mark: DVD due with 3 hours of extras |magazine=The Hollywood Reporter}}</ref> and because they did not fit with the theme of redemption that had emerged during production. Mendes believed the trial drew focus away from the characters and turned the film "into an episode of ''[[NYPD Blue]]''". Instead, he wanted the ending to be "a poetic mixture of dream and memory and narrative resolution".<ref name="kemp 26">{{harvnb|Kemp|2000|p=26}}</ref> When Ball first saw a completed edit, it was a version with truncated versions of these scenes. He felt that they were so short that they "didn't really register".  Mendes and he argued,<ref name="kazan 35" /> but Ball was more accepting after Mendes cut the sequences completely; Ball felt that without the scenes, the film was more optimistic and had evolved into something that "for all its darkness had a really romantic heart".<ref name="wolk" />

===Cinematography===
[[Conrad Hall]] was not the first choice for director of photography; Mendes believed he was "too old and too experienced" to want the job, and he had been told that Hall was difficult to work with. Instead, Mendes asked [[Frederick Elmes]], who turned the job down because he did not like the script.<ref name="lowenstein 259">{{harvnb|Lowenstein|2008|p=259}}</ref> Hall was recommended to Mendes by [[Tom Cruise]], because of Hall's work on ''[[Without Limits]]''&nbsp;(1998), which Cruise had executive produced. Mendes was directing Cruise's then-wife [[Nicole Kidman]] in the play ''[[The Blue Room (play)|The Blue Room]]'' during preproduction on ''American Beauty'',<ref name="impeccable 75" /> and had already [[storyboard]]ed the whole film.<ref name="fanshawe" /> Hall was involved for one month during preproduction;<ref name="impeccable 75" /> his ideas for lighting the film began with his first reading of the script, and further passes allowed him to refine his approach before meeting Mendes.<ref name="probst 80">{{harvnb|Probst|2000|p=80}}</ref> Hall was initially concerned that audiences would not like the characters; he only felt able to identify with them during cast rehearsals, which gave him fresh ideas on his approach to the visuals.<ref name="impeccable 75" />

Hall's approach was to create peaceful compositions that evoked [[classicism]], to contrast with the turbulent on-screen events and allow audiences to take in the action. Hall and Mendes first discussed the intended mood of a scene, but he was allowed to light the shot in any way he felt necessary.<ref name="probst 80" /> In most cases, Hall first lit the scene's subject by "painting in" the blacks and whites, before adding [[fill light]], which he reflected from [[rigid panel|beadboard]] or white card on the ceiling. This approach gave Hall more control over the shadows while keeping the fill light unobtrusive and the dark areas free of spill.<ref name="probst 81" /> Hall shot ''American Beauty'' in a [[Aspect ratio (image)|2.39:1 aspect ratio]] in the [[Super 35]] format, primarily using [[List of motion picture film stocks#Vision color negative (ECN-2 process 1996–2002)|Kodak Vision 500T 5279]] [[35mm movie film|35&nbsp;mm film stock]].<ref name="impeccable 76" /> He used Super 35 partly because its larger scope allowed him to capture elements such as the corners of the petal-filled pool in its overhead shot, creating a frame around Angela within.<ref name="chapter 5" /> He shot the whole film at the same [[T-stop]] (T1.9);<ref name="impeccable 76">{{harvnb|Probst|Heuring|Holben|Thomson|2000|p=76}}</ref> given his preference for shooting that wide, Hall favored high-speed stocks to allow for more subtle lighting effects.<ref name="probst 81" />

Hall used [[Panavision cameras|Panavision Platinum]] cameras with the company's Primo series of [[prime lens|prime]] and [[zoom lens]]es. Hall employed Kodak Vision 200T 5274 and [[List of motion picture film stocks#EXR color negative (ECN-2 process 1989–1996)|EXR 100T 5248]] stock for scenes with daylight effects. He had difficulty adjusting to Kodak's newly introduced Vision release print stock, which, combined with his contrast-heavy lighting style, created a look with too much contrast. Hall contacted Kodak, who sent him a batch of 5279 that was five percent lower in contrast. Hall used a 1/8th strength [[Tiffen (company)|Tiffen]] Black ProMist [[Photographic filter|filter]] for almost every scene, which he said in retrospect may not have been the best choice, as the optical steps required to blow Super 35 up for its [[anamorphic]] release print led to a slight amount of degradation; therefore, the [[Photon diffusion|diffusion]] from the filter was not required. When he saw the film in a theater, Hall felt that the image was slightly unclear and that had he not used the filter, the diffusion from the Super 35–anamorphic conversion would have generated an image closer to what he originally intended.<ref name="impeccable 76" />

A shot where Lester and Ricky share a cannabis joint behind a building came from a misunderstanding between Hall and Mendes. Mendes asked Hall to prepare the shot in his absence; Hall assumed the characters would look for privacy, so he placed them in a narrow passage between a truck and the building, intending to light from the top of the truck. When Mendes returned, he explained that the characters did not care if they were seen. He removed the truck and Hall had to rethink the lighting; he lit it from the left, with a large light crossing the actors, and with a soft light behind the camera. Hall felt the consequent wide shot "worked perfectly for the tone of the scene".<ref name="impeccable 76" /> Hall made sure to keep rain, or the suggestion of it, in every shot near the end of the film. In one shot during Lester's encounter with Angela at the Burnhams' home, Hall created rain effects on the foreground cross lights; in another, he partly lit the pair through French windows to which he had added material to make the rain run slower, intensifying the light (although the strength of the outside light was unrealistic for a night scene, Hall felt it justified because of the strong contrasts it produced). For the close-ups when Lester and Angela move to the couch, Hall tried to keep rain in the frame, lighting through the window onto the ceiling behind Lester.<ref name="probst 81">{{harvnb|Probst|2000|p=81}}</ref> He also used rain boxes to produce rain patterns where he wanted without lighting the entire room.<ref name="probst 82">{{harvnb|Probst|2000|p=82}}</ref>

===Music===
{{further|American Beauty (soundtrack)|American Beauty: Original Motion Picture Score}}
[[Thomas Newman]]'s score was recorded in [[Santa Monica, California]].<ref name="weinraub" /> He used mainly percussion instruments to create the mood and rhythm, the inspiration for which was provided by Mendes.<ref name="burlingame" /> Newman "favored pulse, rhythm, and color over melody", making for a more minimalist score than he had previously created. He built each cue around "small, endlessly repeating phrases"—often, the only variety through a "thinning of the [[texture (music)|texture]] for eight [[bar (music)|bars]]".<ref name="fsm">{{cite magazine|last=Torniainen |first=James |date=February 2000 |title=American Beauty |magazine=[[Film Score Monthly]] |volume=5 |issue=2 |page=36 |url=https://archive.org/details/Film_Score_Monthly_Volume_05_Issue_02_2000_02_Vineyard_Haven_US/page/n37/mode/1up |accessdate=May 15, 2023}}</ref> The percussion instruments included [[tabla]]s, [[bongos]], cymbals, piano, xylophones, and [[marimba]]s; also featured were guitars, flute, and [[world music]] instruments.<ref name="burlingame" /> Newman also used [[electronic music]] and on "quirkier" tracks employed more unorthodox methods, such as tapping metal mixing bowls with a finger and using a detuned [[mandolin]].<ref name="fsm" /> Newman believed the score helped move the film along without disturbing the "moral ambiguity" of the script: "It was a real delicate balancing act in terms of what music worked to preserve [that]."<ref name="burlingame">{{cite magazine|last=Burlingame |first=Jon |date=January 20, 2000 |title=Spotlight: Thomas Newman |url=https://variety.com/2000/music/news/spotlight-thomas-newman-1117761178/ |magazine=Variety |access-date=May 15, 2023}}</ref>

The soundtrack features songs by Newman, Bobby Darin, [[the Who]] ("[[The Seeker (The Who song)|The Seeker]]"), [[Free (band)|Free]], [[Eels (band)|Eels]], [[the Guess Who]], [[Bill Withers]], [[Betty Carter]], [[Peggy Lee]], [[the Folk Implosion]], [[Gomez (band)|Gomez]], and [[Bob Dylan]], as well as two [[cover version]]s—[[the Beatles]]' "[[Because (The Beatles song)|Because]]", performed by [[Elliott Smith]], and [[Neil Young]]'s "[[Don't Let It Bring You Down]]", performed by [[Annie Lennox]].<ref name="jackson">{{cite magazine|last=Jackson |first=Kevin |date=February 2000 |title=American Beauty |magazine=[[Sight & Sound]] |volume=10 |issue=2 |page=40 |url=http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/291 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120803084448/http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/291 |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 3, 2012 |access-date=May 15, 2023}}</ref> Produced by the film's music supervisor [[Chris Douridas]],<ref>{{harvnb|Mendes|Ball|2000|loc=chapter 24}}</ref> an abridged soundtrack album was released on October 5, 1999, and was nominated for a [[Grammy Award for Best Soundtrack Album]]. An album featuring 19 tracks from Newman's score was released on January 11, 2000, and won the [[Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media|Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Steely Dan, U2, Eminem, Macy Gray: Winners of the 2001 Grammy Awards |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/23/movies/steely-dan-u2-eminem-macy-gray-winners-of-the-2001-grammy-awards.html |access-date=August 12, 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=February 23, 2001}}</ref> ''[[Filmmaker (magazine)|Filmmaker]]'' considered the score one of Newman's best, saying it "[enabled] the film's transcendentalist aspirations". In 2006, ''Filmmaker'' chose the score as one of twenty essential soundtracks it believed spoke to the "complex and innovative relationships between music and screen storytelling".<ref>{{cite magazine|volume=Winter 2006 |title=Filmmaker Selects 20 Essential Movie Soundtracks |magazine=[[Filmmaker (magazine)|Filmmaker]] |pages=110–111 |url=https://filmmakermagazine.com/archives/issues/winter2006/line_items/permanent_rotation.php |access-date=May 15, 2023}}</ref>