If anyone has lived a life of quiet desperation, it is Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey). Lester, an unremarkable man trapped in a suburban wasteland, is experiencing a midlife crisis that will be the catalyst for explosive change. And soon it wil engulf everyone in the blast of his self-destruction. Unsettling and provocative, American Beauty has been named an instant classic by critics and viewers alike, for its portrait of American suburbia.