American Beauty · written by Alan Ball · 1999

Lester finds dumbbells and begins stripping to inspect his body in the garage window.

Scene 63 of 163 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act one

Lester

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 37 min into a 1:37 film

The story so farBefore scene 63

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 60
Ricky films Jane through the window and follows her reflection after she closes the drapes.
Scene 61
Ricky looks out from his room and spots Lester searching the garage shelves.
Scene 62
From Ricky's viewpoint, Lester digs through the garage shelves.
Scene 63
This scene

63INT. BURNHAM HOUSE - GARAGE - CONTINUOUS

Lester digs through stuff stored on the shelves, searching for something as if his very life depended on it.

LESTER

Shit. Shit!

He yanks aside COLLEGE YEARBOOKS, a racquetball RACQUET, boxes of old HOT ROD MAGAZINES, an unopened remote-controlled MODEL JEEP KIT, stacks of old vinyl LPs... finally his face lights up when he finds: A pair of DUMBBELLS obviously unused for many years. Lester rips off his jacket and tie and unbuttons his shirt. He glances around, finding his REFLECTION in the WINDOW as he pulls off his shirt, then the T-shirt underneath. He eyes himself critically: Angela was right, he's not in bad shape. Just a few extra pounds around his middle that wouldn't be hard to shed. He kicks off his shoes and begins to step out of his pants.