American Beauty · written by Alan Ball · 1999

Ricky secretly films Jane arriving home; she notices him and flips him off.

Scene 35 of 163 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act one

Jane

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 20 min into a 1:37 film

The story so farBefore scene 35

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.
Just before
Scene 32
Lester fantasizes about Angela in bed beside Carolyn, then wakes excited by the prospect of change.
Scene 33
Girls laugh in Angela's BMW outside the Burnham home.
Scene 34
Jane and Angela pass a joint and discuss Angela’s attention from men and her hope of becoming a model.
Scene 35
This scene

35EXT. BURNHAM HOUSE - CONTINUOUS

On VIDEO: Jane gets out of the car, still LAUGHING, and waves as Angela pulls away. We ZOOM toward Jane as she walks up the driveway. She turns suddenly, sensing our presence.

Her POV: We're looking at the COLONIAL HOUSE next door where the moving van was parked earlier. The front porch is shrouded in darkness... then a PORCH LIGHT abruptly reveals Ricky. As usual, he's dressed conservatively. There is a BEEPER attached to his belt, and his DIGICAM dangles loosely around his neck.

Irritated, Jane stares at him, hard.

JANE

Asshole.

He looks back at her curiously, then raises his Digicam and starts to videotape her.

His POV, on VIDEO: Jane, angry and self-conscious, turns and walks quickly toward her house, flipping us off as she goes.