Visible crew/equipment: After he gets beaten up by his father, Ricky looks in the mirror. On the left edge you can see a bit of the camera, then it moves away. (01:10:10)
American Beauty (1999)
Directed by: Sam Mendes
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Chris Cooper, Mena Suvari, Thora Birch
Genres: Drama
Revealing mistake: In the scene when Ricky's father rushes to his room and punches him, Ricky is bleeding before he is hit. (01:08:00)
Continuity mistake: After Lester throws the pillow, it bounces off the couch and lands in the chair. In the next shot it's gone, but reappears in the following shot. (01:14:10)
Trivia: The role of Angela Hayes was offered to Kirsten Dunst, who turned it down.
Trivia: Jessica Biel was originally cast as Jane Burnham but had to drop out due to conflicts with "7th Heaven" producer Aaron Spelling. The part then went to Thora Birch.
Lester: Janey, today I quit my job. And then I told my boss to go fuck himself and blackmailed him for almost $60,000. Please pass the asparagus.
Lester: Here I am, jerking off in the shower. This will be the highlight of my day.
Lester: My job consists basically of masking my contempt for the assholes in charge and at least once a day retiring to the men's room so I can jerk off, while fantasizing about a life that doesn't so closely resemble hell.
Brad: Well, you have absolutely no interest in saving yourself.
Question: I was just wondering if anyone knows what Jane and her father Lester were talking about in the first scene Ricky films them in the kitchen. You see their lips move but naturally since he's in a different house there are no words to accompy this. Maybe a lip reader could help?
Answer: I think they were talking about how Jane never tells Lester anything anymore. He says how they used to be pals and Jane starts to say something and then I think they see Ricky move outside.
Question: Did Ricky have a mental disability? He is pretty strange, and it was mentioned that he was in a mental hospital, I thought maybe he had aspergers or autism.
Answer: There's no mention that he had a mental disorder. He likely suffers from the emotional abuse his father inflicted on him throughout his entire childhood, which included sending Ricky to a military academy and forcibly committing him to a psychiatric facility (for unknown reasons). This probably contributed to Ricky's later eccentric behavior and drug use.
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Answer: Frank, Ricky's father, killed Lester. He thought Lester was gay, a secret he's been keeping about himself for a long time. When Lester spurned his kiss, he was humiliated and enraged.
Phixius ★