Question: Who was the director of the 2009 British-American war parody comedy film starring the actor who won an Academy Award for Best Actor for midlife crisis-themed drama "American Beauty"?

Context articles: Kevin Spacey
Jamie Foxx
The Men Who Stare at Goats (film)
Nick Nolte
American Beauty (1999 film)
Dustin Hoffman filmography
Tom Cruise filmography
Morgan Freeman on screen and stage
Christopher Greenbury
List of accolades received by American Beauty

Kevin Spacey Fowler, KBE (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, and singer.
 He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s before obtaining supporting roles in film and television.
 He gained critical acclaim in the early 1990s that culminated in his first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the neo-noir crime thriller "The Usual Suspects" (1995), and an Academy Award for Best Actor for midlife crisis-themed drama "American Beauty" (1999).
Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), known professionally by his stage name Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, singer, songwriter, musician, producer, and comedian.
 He won an Academy Award for Best Actor, BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biographical film "Ray".
 The same year, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the crime film "Collateral".
 As of spring 2017, Foxx serves as host and executive producer of the new Fox game show "Beat Shazam".
The Men Who Stare at Goats is a 2009 British-American war parody comedy film directed by Grant Heslov.
 It is a fictionalized version of Jon Ronson's 2004 book of an investigation into attempts by the U.S. military to employ psychic powers as a weapon.
 The film stars George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey, and was produced by Clooney's and Heslov's production company Smokehouse Pictures.
Nicholas King Nolte (born February 8, 1941) is an American actor and former model.
 He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 1991 film "The Prince of Tides".
 He went on to receive Academy Award nominations for "Affliction" (1998) and "Warrior" (2011).
 His other film appearances include "The Deep" (1977), "48 Hrs.
" (1982), "Down and Out in Beverly Hills" (1986), "Another 48 Hrs.
" (1990), "Everybody Wins" (1990), "Cape Fear" (1991), "Lorenzo's Oil" (1992), "The Thin Red Line" (1998), "The Good Thief" (2002), "Hulk" (2003), "Hotel Rwanda" (2004), "Tropic Thunder" (2008), "A Walk in the Woods" (2015) and "The Ridiculous 6" (2015).
 He was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy for his role in the TV series "Graves" (2016–present).
American Beauty is a 1999 American drama film directed by Sam Mendes and written by Alan Ball.
 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, and Allison Janney also feature.
 The film is described by academics as a satire of American middle-class notions of beauty and personal satisfaction; analysis has focused on the film's explorations of romantic, and paternal love, sexuality, beauty, materialism, self-liberation, and redemption.
American actor Dustin Hoffman began his career by appearing in an episode of "Naked City" in 1961.
 His first theatrical performance was 1961's "A Cook for Mr. General" as Ridzinski.
 Following several guest appearances on television, he starred in the 1966 play "Eh?
"; his performance garnered him both a Theatre World Award and Drama Desk Award.
 Hoffman made his film debut in 1967 when he appeared in the comedy "The Tiger Makes Out".
 In the same year, his breakthrough role as Benjamin "Ben" Braddock, the title character in Mike Nichols' comedy-drama "The Graduate", led to Hoffman achieving star status and his first Academy Award nomination.
 He then acted in the play "Jimmy Shine" as the eponymous character and the comedy film "Madigan's Millions" (both 1968).
 In 1969, he starred alongside Jon Voight in the Academy Award for Best Picture winner "Midnight Cowboy", which Hoffman was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor a second time.
Tom Cruise is an American actor and producer who made his film debut with a minor role in the 1981 romantic drama "Endless Love".
 Two years later he made his breakthrough by starring in the romantic comedy "Risky Business" (1983), which garnered Cruise his first nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.
 In 1986, Cruise played a fighter pilot in the Tony Scott-directed action drama "Top Gun" (the highest-grossing film that year), and also starred opposite Paul Newman in the Martin Scorsese-directed drama "The Color of Money".
 Two years later he played opposite Dustin Hoffman in the Academy Award for Best Picture-winning drama "Rain Man" (1988), and also appeared in the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Picture-winning romantic drama "Cocktail" (1988).
 In doing so Cruise became the first and only person as of 2014 to star in a Best Picture Oscar winner and a Worst Picture Razzie winner in the same year.
 His next role was as anti-war activist Ron Kovic in the drama adaptation of Kovic's memoir of the same name, "Born on the Fourth of July" (1989).
 For his performance Cruise received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
American actor and director Morgan Freeman has had a prolific career on film, television and on the stage.
 His film debut was as an uncredited character in the Sidney Lumet–directed drama "The Pawnbroker" in 1964.
 Freeman also made his stage debut in the same year by appearing in the musical "Hello, Dolly!
" He followed this with further stage appearances in "The Niggerlovers" (1967), "The Dozens" (1969), "Exhibition" (1969), and the musical "Purlie" (1970–71).
 He played various characters on the children's television series "The Electric Company" (1971–77).
 Freeman subsequently appeared in the films "Teachers" in 1984, and "Marie" in 1985 before making his breakthrough with 1987's "Street Smart".
 His role earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
 Two years later he appeared in war film "Glory" (1989), and starred as Hoke Coleburn in the comedy-drama "Driving Miss Daisy" (1989).
 Freeman won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his performance in the latter and also earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Christopher Greenbury, ACE (September 24, 1951 – January 4, 2007) was a British film editor with more than thirty film credits dating from 1979's "The Muppet Movie".
 With Tariq Anwar, he won the BAFTA Award for Best Editing for "American Beauty" (1999), which he was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Film Editing.
 "American Beauty" is a serious drama, but in general Greenbury edited comedy films, including six directed by the Farrelly brothers commencing with 1994's "Dumb and Dumber".
"American Beauty" is a 1999 American drama film directed by Sam Mendes and written by Alan Ball.
 The film stars Kevin Spacey as Lester Burnham, a middle-aged office worker who has a midlife crisis when he becomes infatuated with his teenage daughter's best friend.
 Released in North America on September 15, 1999, "American Beauty" was positively received by critics and audiences alike; it was the best-reviewed American film of the year and grossed over $350 million worldwide.
 Reviewers praised all aspects of the production, with particular emphasis on Mendes, Spacey and Ball; criticism tended to focus on the familiarity of the characters and setting.
 At the 1999 Academy Awards, the film won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (for Spacey), Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography (for Conrad Hall).
 The film was nominated for and won numerous other awards and honors, mainly for the direction, writing, and acting.