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Just two months later, his next film would have a similar pedigree of being the film adaptation of a respected novel, having a critically-acclaimed director and a diverse, reputable cast. The fact that most people would be hard-pressed to remember Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil even existed is somewhat hard to believe considering it was directed by Oscar favorite Clint Eastwood and starred Spacey, John Cusack, relative unknown at the time Jude Law and Clint's little girl, Alison. Once again, Spacey was the "star" of the show or at least credited as such. Despite Eastwood's ability to keep budgets low ($30 million on this one), the film only earned $25 million. While a ding to Spacey's box office credibility, this one's underperformance didn't taint the shine on L.A. Confidential.

Finally, three years removed from his Verbal Kint glory days and a string of respectable box office outings that he was associated with but not responsible for, Spacey dipped his toe a little deeper in the leading man waters. For 1998's underrated The Negotiator, Spacey took the check for $4.5 million and went mano-a-mano with fellow Grisham alumni Samuel L. Jackson. Though Jackson delivered his bigger role with the gusto to make Jules Winfield beam with pride, Spacey got almost as much screen time as his counterpart. This was a pure popcorn flick coated in Rico's buttered flavored oil with no nutritional value but it sure it tasted good. Unfortunately, it would play out just like Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by coming "this close" to earning back its $50 million. Given the span of time between his win for The Usual Suspects and this film as his first real attempt at a bigger role in a mainstream film, Spacey seemed to be ignoring the siren's call of selling him to the American public as a box office draw.

Looking purely at the release date, it seems that his next choice was to lend his voice to the evil Hopper in A Bug's Life. While released in November 1998, his work here was obviously in the can quite a while before, considering that Pixar films take years to bring to life. Therefore, it could be argued that Spacey was approached about voicing the villainous insect immediately following his antagonist turns in both The Usual Suspects and Se7en. While it would be nice to give Spacey credit for the film's $162 million gross, we all know that Pixar was the real reason. If you foolishly assign credit to Spacey, you'd better be ready to argue that Dave Foley is a box office superstar too.

How do you follow a voiceover in a Pixar film? In 1999, Spacey decided to visit suburbia and the devil-may-care middle life crisis of Lester Burnham in American Beauty. More than likely, DreamWorks wasn't thinking five Oscars and a $130 million gross when they gave Sam Mendes $15 million to make this film. Alas, that was the reality and Spacey was the biggest beneficiary of the film.
Spacey was the favorite through the award season with the only possible Oscar spoiler being his L.A. Confidential co-star Russell Crowe's performance in The Insider. It wasn't in the cards for him to be spoiled and he walked away with his second Oscar in five years. While in the post coital afterglow of his first Oscar, he didn't succumb to the allure of oversized, bloated projects. Sadly, the same couldn't be said of the next time around.

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