1999 in film 1999 in film The year 1999 in film included Stanley Kubrick's final film "Eyes Wide Shut", Pedro Almodóvar's first Oscar-winning film "All About My Mother", the science-fiction hit "The Matrix", the Deep Canvas-pioneering Disney animated feature "Tarzan" and Best Picture-winner "American Beauty" and the well-received "The Green Mile", as well as the animated works "The Iron Giant", "Toy Story 2", "Stuart Little" and "". Other noteworthy releases included Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman's breakout film "Being John Malkovich" and M. Night Shyamalan's breakout film "The Sixth Sense", the controversial "Fight Club" and Paul Thomas Anderson's "Magnolia". The year also featured
American Beauty (1999 film) impressed in ways distinct from his previous performances, the most satisfying aspect being his portrayal of "both sap and hero". Writing in "Film Quarterly", Gary Hentzi praised the actors, but said that characters such as Carolyn and Col. Fitts were stereotypes. Hentzi accused Mendes and Ball of identifying too readily with Jane and Ricky, saying the latter was their "fantasy figure"—a teenaged boy who's an absurdly wealthy artist able to "finance [his] own projects". Hentzi said Angela was the most believable teenager, in particular with her "painfully familiar" attempts to "live up to an unworthy image of herself". Maslin agreed