American Beauty · written by Alan Ball · 1999

Jane waits for her parents at the basketball game; she tells Angela they are trying to take an active interest in her.

Scene 27 of 163 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act one

Angela
Jane

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 14 min into a 1:37 film

The story so farBefore scene 27

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.
Just before
Scene 24
Carolyn points out a ceiling fan's savings to a pregnant buyer.
Scene 25
Carolyn pitches the backyard to two women and offers tiki torches.
Scene 26
Alone in the sunroom, Carolyn cries briefly, then composes herself for the next clients.
Scene 27
This scene

27INT. HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASIUM - NIGHT

We're at a high-school BASKETBALL GAME. Teenage boys play a fast and furious game. One team wearing pale blue and white uniforms scores a basket. Perky cheerleaders jump up and down as the CROWD goes wild. Seated in the bleachers, next to the high school BAND, is a group of about twenty TEENAGE GIRLS, dressed in pale blue and white uniforms. Among them, Jane sits next to ANGELA HAYES. At sixteen, Angela is strikingly beautiful; with perfect even features, blonde hair and a nubile young body, she's the archetypal American dream girl. Jane stands and scans the bleachers.

ANGELA

Who are you looking for?

JANE

My parents are coming tonight.

They're trying to, you know, take

an active interest in me.

ANGELA

Gross. I hate it when my mom does

that.

JANE

They're such assholes. Why can't

they just have their own lives?