When American Beauty was first released it was met with pretty much universal acclaim; and the Oscars, with their love of all things in love with Americana, melodrama and mature seriousness, found American Beauty to be the best film of the year. The film also took numerous other Academy Awards, including best screenplay for Ball, best director for Sam Mendes and best actor for Kevin Spacey. It also won several Golden Globes but like, is that even a real thing anyways.