American Beauty · written by Alan Ball · 1999

Lester says each day but the day you die is a new beginning, then runs from the house.

Scene 104 of 163 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act two

Lester

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 1:10 into a 1:37 film

The story so farBefore scene 104

After becoming infatuated with his teenage daughter’s friend, a dissatisfied suburban father quits his job and pursues a more vivid life, unsettling his family and drawing him into the orbit of a troubled teenage neighbor.

Scenes 1–13
Lester is trapped in a suburban routine of corporate work and a marriage performed for appearances.
Scenes 14–31
Family estrangement and his attraction to Angela expose how urgently Lester wants to feel alive.
Scenes 32–75
Lester follows the desire into risky fantasy, exercise and open defiance of Carolyn.
Scenes 76–90
Lester quits and takes a fast-food job while Jane and Ricky begin connecting in parallel.
Scenes 91–102
Lester wins control of his daily life and openly rejects the family's old rules.
Just before
Scene 101
Carolyn finds Lester's Firebird blocking the driveway and bristles at the obstruction.
Scene 102
Lester lounges with a remote-control car as he and Carolyn argue about his new life and her attachment to possessions.
Scene 103
Jane and Ricky discuss his hospitalization and her anger at Lester; she jokes about hiring Ricky to kill him.
Scene 104
This scene

104EXT. ROBIN HOOD TRAIL - EARLY MORNING

We're FLYING above Robin Hood Trail. We see the BURNHAM'S HOUSE below us as we APPROACH it steadily.

CONTINUED: (4)

LESTER

Remember those posters that said,

"Today is the first day of the rest

of your life?" Well, that's true of

every day except one.

(a beat)

The day you die.

We're almost on top of the Burnham house now, as Lester, wearing sweatpants and running shoes, bursts out of the front door and dashes up the driveway.