I Could Watch It 100 Times

...and I would never tire of American Beauty. Arguably one of the best films in the last twenty years or more. The dialog from the last scene always brings me to tears. Always.

Lester:

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...

(In BLACK & WHITE: A door opens to reveal
4-YEAR-OLD JANE, dressed for Halloween in a
Princess costume, holding a lit
SPARKLER aloft and smiling shyly at us.)
And Janie...

(A younger Carolyn sits across from us
in one of those SPINNING-TEACUP RIDES,
laughing uncontrollably as she twists
the wheel in front of her, making us
spin even faster.)
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...
        (amused)
You have no idea what I'm talking about,
I'm sure. But don't worry...

(Fade to black.)

You will someday.



--Taken from American Beauty Script/Screenplay by Alan Ball