When ``American Beauty'' hit theaters last fall, many were surprised when it became a box-office hit and an Oscar front-runner.

By Sunday night, though, it came as no surprise that the sobering satire of suburbia dominated the Academy Awards. In an industry whose recent top honors have mostly gone to splashy epics, ``American Beauty'' had simply built up too much critical and popular esteem to be denied. The film won five awards: best picture, best actor for Kevin Spacey, best director for Sam Mendes, best original screenplay for Alan Ball and best cinematography for Conrad L. Hall. The ceremony, which at four hours plus was the longest on record, was seen in whole or in part by an estimated 78 million Americans, with overnight ratings down slightly from last year, according to Nielsen figures released today. ``The more of these sorts of movies that get made and the more they get acknowledged by the mainstream, the better,'' said Mendes, an acclaimed theater director. Spacey, whose character undergoes a transformation after almost consummating an affair with his daughter_s high-school friend, said the movie hit home with audiences because ``we got to see all of his worst qualities, and we still grew to love him.''