Annette Bening On American Beauty

[@TheJPSouza]

Her performance as Carolyn is brilliant, so is Kevin Spacey as Lester.

[@rievans57]

The 08:41 mark is an absolute classroom on the art of acting.

[@jdale1259]

Just when I thought I couldn't become a bigger fan of hers than I already was, I see this clip. What a great person. She deserved the Oscar for American Beauty.

[@jeffkelly4721]

I will sell this house today!!!!!!

[@annehajdu8654]

Hilary Swank won for Boys Don't Cry. She deserved the Oscar over Bening.

[@lewisgreen1633]

Wonderful actress, very talented..

[@lauraarmstrong3168]

I absolutely love her voice.

[@MrParkerman6]

Yu Know? I was watching her very closely- She didn't Screw Up Once!

[@W4BJM]

Her crying/wailing scene at the end of the movie. Imagine try to act like your heart is being ripped out of you. She deserved the Oscar for that scene alone IMO.

[@EphemeralProductions]

I agree. But, if that’s the case then that means every actor that has done such a scene (and there’s many) deserves an Oscar as well. :). Actually I’ve always thought that! There’s so many amazing performances in the history of movies, there’s no way there could be awards given to all of them but I think they deserve it nonetheless!

[@EphemeralProductions]

I also wonder if that is the scene she was talking about, the wailing in the closet. As opposed to the scene in the empty house.

[@reuvenmarkmozes-mozesmusic7000]

She is a fantastic actress and everything that she says is interesting and inspiring. She is one of the best actors ever

[@rievans57]

Annette Bening's performance in American Beauty was multi-dimensional. Hillary Swank's performance in Boy's Don't Cry was one dimensional (her character basically got the shit beat of them throughout the film) and they gave the Oscar to Ms. Swank. To this day I consider this to be one of the greatest injustices in the history of American cinema.

[@EphemeralProductions]

There’s been SO damn many of em in the history of the Oscars. It’s ridiculous, I almost think the Oscars shouldn’t even exist sometimes for that reason.

[@michaelmclaughlin6376]

I am 100% sure that the scene she is talking about that had to be repeated is the one where she comes into the house she is trying to sell, and slaps herself across the face "Shut up!" Brilliant scene.

[@YGardenRose]

I didn’t realize this until I rewatched the movie again, & saw this interview with her, that the scene where she’s trying to sell the house is probably what some real estate people go through. She’s trying to sell a dark, dingy, older home, with a pool that looks like a cesspool. Although I think potential buyers don’t act as rude but maybe so. I like her acting. She’s always seemed so real. I loved the movie until it got to the end. I think Lester deserved better.

[@lcvmaddox3357]

I agree with you with everything except that Lester deserved better. Carolyn (Annette Bening) deserved much better than old Lester and his poor-me predatory self that couldn't be arsed to get a divorce and reframe his life. Caroly deserved better than that narcissistic putz.

[@ct6852]

In California a lot of people would look at a house like that and say wtf. But they'd buy anyway.

[@EphemeralProductions]

⁠@@ct6852exactly. Probably because there’s so few options because of how many people live there and the demand, that they just take what they can get.

[@finchcarvingadiamond]

Tough and smart and relatable

[@kaivrock]

What a clinic. It reminds me of the scene in Tootsie where Dustin Hoffman is doing the same thing with young actors at a party.

[@kahlodiego5299]

"I will sell this house today..."

[@neverusingthisagain2]

Great actress id love to see her move

[@richxts1357]

She's still a "Babe"!

[@piecesofme8531]

What was the hard scene?

[@derekrosdahl1484]

piecesofme the scene where she’s slapping herself after failing to sell that home.

[@sp2435]

Egg shells & Miracle Grow

[@gbowers]

She killed Lester.

[@alexandradaniele]

No, Frank Fitts killed Lester. He is clearly seen re- entering his house with a blood stained tee shirt.

[@gbowers]

@@alexandradaniele Yes, but not the blood of Lester. He is clearly seen with gloves on as well. Frank Fitts murdered his own wife. When you see the gun behind Lester’s head, there is a finger on the trigger with no glove on it; Carolyn’s finger. When Carolyn is seen walking up to the door in her driveway in the rain, a gunshot is heard in the background coming from the right of her (Frank Fitts’ home) as Frank shoots his wife next door. The gunshot noises heard when seeing everyone else are relevant to either Carolyn shooting Lester downstairs or Frank shooting his wife next door. Carolyn and Frank both had very similar handguns. Frank shown with blood all over his shirt and wearing gloves is a red herring. It would be way too easy and obvious to think Frank killed Lester, especially considering the movie’s slogan: Look Closer. Carolyn shot Lester in the back of the head and then immediately ran upstairs and cried regret while clenching his shirts in the closet. Frank Fitts was not actually a closeted homosexual who confesses himself to Lester because he thought he was a homosexual after seeing what looked like Lester and Ricky involved sexually with each other. He instead went over to Lester that night to simply ascertain if Lester was actually homosexual or not in order to know for sure if Ricky was telling him the truth or not. This was a way for Frank to get a for sure answer; by FEIGNING homosexuality to Lester. If Lester had been into the kiss, Frank would’ve known he was gay and that Ricky was, too. But since Lester clearly showed he wasn’t, Frank then could at least know his son was telling the truth to him and he just misinterpreted what he saw that night. It doesn’t really make sense to believe that Frank was actually homosexual and then just wanted to go kiss Lester and have gay fun with him randomly one night (after literally beating Ricky and kicking him out of the house for thinking he was gay) and then instead learned that Lester was not actually gay and then decided to kill Lester so he could keep him from telling people about his homosexuality. That doesn’t make sense. We saw very clearly how upset Frank was with his son joking about being homosexual and it’s very obvious that Frank truly loves his son despite being extremely strict and a disciplinarian. We see at the very beginning of the movie how averse and disgusted Frank Fitts is by homosexuals as well. There is absolutely no reason to believe he was actually just a homosexual himself that whole time. He did what he did because he loves his son and wanted to at least know if he was telling him the truth the only other way he could at that time because right before that scene, Ricky ran away, and now Frank was left without knowing if Ricky was telling the truth or not. Now, why Frank killed his wife (Ricky’s mother) is another speculation. I am not too sure, but it could be related to Frank’s abnormal strictness or the fact that his Mother already seemed dead inside in the movie prior, kind of a hollow shell, car running but no one behind the wheel type of woman, perhaps that way from living with Frank for so long. So, Frank killing his wife literally, at the end, is just a symbol of that out of order perhaps. She appears very empty and unaware of her surroundings almost every time we see her. She was directed to be that way in the movie for a reason. This is what I think makes much more sense and I only arrived at these theories and conclusions by doing what the film asked its audience to do… to LOOK CLOSER. I am also rewatching the film again to look even closer, and I noticed something I never had before. At 29 minutes into the film, we see the colonel and his wife alone in the TV room with an army program on. I noticed there are two chairs on either side of the TV and they have plastic covers over them. I believe this to be foreshadowing of the colonel murdering his wife with gloves on as we see him at the end of the film. Again, she is shown very empty inside and not all the way there. The colonel could be a control freak and obsessed with order to the point that his wife is metaphorically dead inside, perhaps because he’s hard to live with, or just so strict or unrealistic, or he shows no emotion to his family or love…something along those lines. But I believe that’s a clue; the covers over the chairs, almost like gloves themselves over the chairs. It is very apparent that there is something off with the mother’s place in this small family of Frank Fitts, his wife, and their son, Ricky. Not to mention, in the same scene, she randomly blurts out, "I’m sorry, what?" when no one said anything at all.

[@EphemeralProductions]

@@alexandradanieleexactly. It blows me away all the comments I see where people seem to ignore that huge detail. lol

[@intertwinedswastikainmatin6548]

Like her glasses.......... Remember getting unbearable hard-ons watching her in Tootsie.... One of the most attractive women that had been in Hollywood. Is Life sending me a message today now that I'm watchin' her as a Grandma. ...?!!

[@irishsingersongwritertessp4223]

What part did she play in Tootsie

[@kahlodiego5299]

I don't think she was in Tootsie.

[@EphemeralProductions]

She wasn’t in tootsie. That was Jessica Lange and Terri garr

[@neverusingthisagain2]

Calm down perv