American Beauty
American Beauty mistake picture

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)

American Beauty mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Ricky comes home and starts to watch TV with his parents, on close up shots of the TV there are pictures and a vase on top of it, but when they show shots of Ricky and his parents, they mysteriously vanish. (00:27:55)

American Beauty mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Lester is drinking from the blender in the kitchen, the amount changes the wrong way. First it's half full, then a third full, then half full again. (01:20:45)

American Beauty mistake picture

Continuity mistake: In the first overhead shot of Lester in bed, just before his shower, his slippers are positioned in a V-shape, but in the next shot, from under the bed, has them parallel to the bed. (00:01:34)

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)

More mistakes in American Beauty

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.

More quotes from American Beauty

Trivia: The films enigmatic tagline "Look Closer" can be seen on a card or sticker at Lester's desk. (00:04:36)

More trivia for American Beauty

Question: Who was responsible for Lester's murder? Many of his family and friends had a motive but at the time he was killed, they were all somewhere else.

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

More questions & answers from American Beauty

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.