American Beauty (1999 film) and "Magnolia"). In 2006, the Writers Guild of America ranked the screenplay number 38 on its list of the 101 greatest screenplays. Annotations Footnotes Bibliography American Beauty (1999 film) American Beauty is a 1999 American drama film written by Alan Ball and directed by Sam Mendes in his feature film directorial debut. Kevin Spacey stars as Lester Burnham, a 42-year-old advertising executive who has a midlife crisis when he becomes infatuated with his teenage daughter's best friend, Angela (Mena Suvari). Annette Bening co-stars as Lester's materialistic wife, Carolyn, and Thora Birch plays their insecure daughter, Jane. Wes Bentley, Chris Cooper,
Richard Lester series on British cinema in the 1960s for the BBC. Director Steven Soderbergh is among many who have called for a reappraisal of Lester's work and influence. He authored "Getting Away With It", published in 1999, about Lester's career. which consists of interviews with Lester. In Soderbergh's book "Getting Away With It," Lester reveals that he is a committed atheist and debates with Soderbergh (then an agnostic), largely based on the arguments of Richard Dawkins. During Lester's time at Penn, he was a member of the Beta Rho Chapter of Sigma Nu. Richard Lester Richard Lester Liebman (born January 19,