Kevin Spacey as Lester Burnham.
Why these are great diatribes:
Lester sums himself up in this movie in a single line. Lester Burnham: “Nope; I’m just an ordinary guy who has nothing left to lose.” The world has been screwing with Lester for quite some time. He comes to the realization that he has absolutely no joy in his life, and therefore makes a conscious decision to start simply doing whatever he pleases. Whether its working out in order to hit on his daughter’s high school cheerleader friend, or smoking pot he bought from her boyfriend, or simply buying his high school dream car. Any way, this movie has some fantastic dialogue. It makes you take an internal peek and makes you wonder, “Do I really like what I am doing with my life at this moment?” And if the answer is no, then why don’t I change it?
A sampling of many diatribes.
Lester Burnham: My name is Lester Burnham. This is my neighborhood. This is my street. This is my life. I’m 42 years old. In less than a year I’ll be dead.
Of course, I don’t know that yet. And in a way, I’m dead already.
Look at me. Jerking off in the shower. This will be the high point of my day. It’s all down hill from here.
That’s my wife Carolyn. See how the handle on those pruning shears match her gardening clogs?
Thats not an accident.
That’s our next door neighbor Jim. And that’s his lover, Jim.
I’m exhausted just watching her. She wasn’t always like this. She used to be happy.
We used to be happy.
My daughter Jane. Only child. Janie’s a pretty typical teenager. Angry. Insecure. Confused.
I wish I could tell her that’s all going to pass, but I don’t want to lie to her.
Both my wife and daughter think I’m this gigantic loser. And they’re right. I have lost something. I’m not exactly sure what it is, but I know I didn’t always feel.. this…. sedated.
But you know what? It’s never to late to get it back.
Lester Burnham: It’s a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself. It makes you wonder what else you can do that you have forgotten about.
[last lines]
Lester Burnham: [narrating] I had always heard your entire life flashes in front of your eyes the second before you die. First of all, that one second isn’t a second at all, it stretches on forever, like an ocean of time… For me, it was lying on my back at Boy Scout camp, watching falling stars… And yellow leaves, from the maple trees, that lined my street… Or my grandmother’s hands, and the way her skin seemed like paper… And the first time I saw my cousin Tony’s brand new Firebird… And Janie… And Janie… And… Carolyn. I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me… but it’s hard to stay mad, when there’s so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I’m seeing it all at once, and it’s too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that’s about to burst… And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain and I can’t feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life… You have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m sure. But don’t worry… you will someday.
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