History Film / AmericanBeauty

* GetOut: Col. Fitts demands Ricky to leave the house after the "blow job" incident in Lester's garage.

* '''Col. Frank Fitts, [[SemperFi USMC]]''' (Creator/ChrisCooper), a now-inactive Marine who fought in Vietnam. He's trying to raise Ricky in his own image ("[[CatchPhrase You need structure... you need discipline]]"), which is meeting with limited success. [[EstablishingCharacterMoment He's also a flaming homophobe]].

** There are a couple of showtunes in the film, evidence of director Sam Mendes's theatre background; American Beauty was his first non-theatre directorial effort.

* BaitAndSwitch: Two instances of it in the circumstances leading to Lester's [[spoiler: murder. In the opening scenes of the film, we hear Lester saying that he'll be dead in less than a year, as well as Jane seemingly seriously discussing murdering her father with help from her boyfriend Ricky, which leads us to assume that Lester would eventually be murdered by his daughter and her lover. We later find out that the conversation wasn't serious. Later on, we see Carolyn deciding "not to be a victim" by taking out her gun with the presumed intention of murdering Lester. Minutes later, we see a gun pointed to the back of Lester's head in the kitchen and he's shot to death. We assume that it's Carolyn, but later discover that the murder was actually committed by Col. Fitts.]]

The film is additionally notable for being a dark, cynical, and dead-funny look at modern suburbia, with its tonal approach possibly [[FollowTheLeader encouraging the later trend]] of [[TrueArtIsAngsty arty/angsty]], relatively obscure dramas getting all the Best Picture nods. It's also notable for juggling a ton of characters ''successfully'', where most films top out at three or four.

!!This film provides examples of:

* AgeGapRomance: Deconstructed and subverted. Lester Burnham, while going through a mid-life crisis, starts to lust after his daughter's teenage friend Angela and decides to seduce her. However, [[spoiler:when they're actually together, she reveals that all her talk of having been with multiple boys was just bragging and she's really a virgin. Lester, who realizes how inappropriate he's been, refuses to take advantage of her.]]

* ArtisticLicenceBiology: The movie has some pretty unrealistic gore effects that contradict the basics of human anatomy and physiology. When Ricky gets hit by his father, it looks as if though his face merely ''squirted out'' some blood and then instantly healed itself, which is obviously impossible. Furthermore, [[spoiler: when Lester gets killed, the way his blood gets splattered makes no sense – it's as if though the film crew just randomly threw some blood on the actor and on the nearby wall.]]

-->'''Angela''': Well, at least I'm not ugly.\\
'''Ricky''': ...Yes, you are. And you're boring. And you're totally ordinary. And you know it.
** This completely shuts Angela down into a crying fit in the Burnham living room. [[ChekhovsGun She even said earlier that "there's nothing worse in life than being ordinary."]]
* BurgerFool: Lester becomes one voluntarily and, [[SubvertedTrope unlike his co-workers, seems to enjoy it.]] It helps that, when he was laid off from his previous job, he blackmailed his boss into giving him an ''extremely'' generous severance package so anything he earns from the restaurant job is just extra cash to spend.

* ACupAngst: Jane is looking up breast augmentation on the internet early in the movie. Subverted in that it turns out she is actually well-endowed, but her insecurity comes from the fact that one of her breasts is a little larger than the other.

* DullSurprise: Jane and Ricky's reaction to finding Lester's [[spoiler: dead body bleeding from a headshot in the kitchen.]]

--> '''Ricky''': And you should see me fuck. I'm the best piece of ass in three states!

* HeKnowsTooMuch: [[spoiler:Col. Fitts]] kills Lester, to keep [[spoiler:his homosexuality]] a secret...or out of shame for having [[spoiler:tried to kiss him]]...or because he thinks he's a pedophile who [[spoiler:rejects the advances of grown men]].

-->'''Lester:''' You...don't get to tell me what to do...ever...again.

* AMFMCharacterization:
** Lester is a Music/PinkFloyd fan, as he's amazed that Ricky owns a copy of ''Music/TheDarkSideOfTheMoon''. He also sings "American Woman" by Music/TheGuessWho while stoned in the car.
** Carolyn sings Music/BobbyDarin's version of "[[Theatre/FunnyGirl Don't Rain on My Parade]]" in the car. She's evidently a big Darin fan, as the soundtrack for the dinner table confrontation, which she is implied to have chosen, includes his recordings of "Call Me Irresponsible" and "Where Love Has Gone".

* MomentKiller: Lester and Carolyn start having their first romantic and intimate moment in ages...until Carolyn becomes distracted when she notices that Lester is going to spill beer on the couch.

-->"I had always heard your entire life flashes in front of your eyes the second before you die. First of all, that one second isn't a second at all. It stretches on forever, like an ocean of time. For me, it was lying on my back at Boy Scout camp, watching falling stars...and yellow leaves, from the maple trees that lined our street...or my grandmother's hands, and the way her skin seemed like paper...and the first time I saw my cousin Tony's brand new Firebird...and Janie...and Janie...and...Carolyn."

** When he finds out [[spoiler:she is cheating on him]]: "No, no. '''You'''...don't get to tell '''me''' what to do...ever...again."
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Lester completes his character arc and finally finds peace and happiness...moments before he's murdered.

* SexlessMarriage: Lester and Carolyn. As Lester says it, "This hasn't been a marriage for years, but you were happy as long as I kept my mouth shut. Well, guess what, I've changed! And the new me whacks off when he feels horny, because you're obviously not gonna help me out in that department!"
** Presumably also Col. and Mrs. Fitts, due to [[spoiler: Col. Fitts being a closet homosexual.]]
* SexyPackaging: If you know nothing about ''American Beauty'', you could be forgiven for thinking it was a porn flick, given the title, the "Look closer" {{Tagline}} and the prominent picture of a woman's midriff and the red rose. Then again, [[FridgeBrilliance this was probably the designer's intention...to look closer and not judge anything by its cover, since the film's most prominent theme is that things are rarely ever as they seem on the surface]].

* StepfordSuburbia

-> "[[VerbalBusinessCard My name is Lester Burnham]]. This is my neighborhood; this is my street; this is my life. I am 42 years old; in less than a year, [[OhAndXDies I'll be dead]]. Of course, I don't know that yet. And, in a way, I'm dead already."

* '''Lester Burnham''' (Creator/KevinSpacey), a HenpeckedHusband and personality-less advertising-magazine wage slave who feels trapped in a shallow and meaningless life. He is the film's [[PosthumousNarration Posthumous Narrator]] and main character, and the story concerns his efforts to find happiness. "Both my wife and daughter think I'm this gigantic loser...and they're right."

* '''Jane Burnham''' (Creator/ThoraBirch), their daughter of 16 years old. "Janie's a pretty typical teenager: angry, insecure, confused. I wish I could tell her that's all going to pass...but I don't want to lie to her." She resents the way her father has begun to withdraw from her, and, in the very first scene of the movie, takes someone up on an offer to murder him.
* '''Angela Hayes''' (Creator/MenaSuvari), who is on the cheerleading team with Jane and quickly becomes the object of Lester's fantasies, causing him to start an intensive work-out regimen in an attempt to seduce her. She acts more worldly and [[ReallyGetsAround experienced]] than Jane, and isn't afraid to use her body to her advantage: "If people I don't even know look at me and want to fuck me, it means...I really have a shot at being a model!"

* '''Buddy Kane''' (Creator/PeterGallagher), Carolyn's main business rival, the self-styled "King of Real Estate." He's powerful, success-minded, has enormously charismatic eyebrows, and appeals to her StepfordSmiler instincts: "In order to be successful, one must project an image of success at all times." Eventually, the two of them start an affair. He also introduces Carolyn to the shooting range, where she picks up a Smith & Wesson once owned by a man named [[ChekhovsGun Chekhov]]...
* '''Col. Frank Fitts, [[SemperFi USMC]]''' (Creator/ChrisCooper), a now-inactive Marine who fought in Vietnam. He's trying to raise Ricky in his own image ("[[CatchPhrase You need structure...you need discipline]]"), which is meeting with limited success. [[EstablishingCharacterMoment He's also a flaming homophobe]].

->''"...look closer."''

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