After over hearing Angela tell Jane that she thinks Lester is sexy he decides to start working out every night to become more desirable to Angela. ... Angela is more the trigger than the cause of Lester's transformation. ... She doesn't like having Angela spend the night. ... Angela constantly teases Jane about liking Ricky (Wes Bently). ... After attempting sex with the beautiful Angela Lester sits down at the family kitchen tab...

• Word Count: 2144
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

It is there that he first lays his eyes on the beautiful Angela. ... After over hearing Angela tell Jane that she thinks Lester is sexy he decides to start working out every night to become more desirable to Angela. ... Angela is more the trigger than the cause of Lester's transformation. ... She doesn't like having Angela spend the night. ... Angela constantly teases Jane about liking Ricky (Wes Bently). ...

• Word Count: 2159
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

At the game, Lester first sees Angela. Immediately, Lester begins to fantasize about Angela. ... Lester and Angela are alone and have the opportunity to have sex together, but Angela tells Lester, "This is my first time." ... By Angela going along with Lester's fantasy, Jane grew to dislike Angela. ... Angela also drove Lester and Caroline apart. ...

• Word Count: 1644
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

The main characters include Lester Burnhan, a father and husban in an obvious mid life crisis, Angela, his daughters sexpot best friend who is a clear case of narcissistic personality disorder, and Colonel Fitts, Lester's next door neighbor and obvious homophobic. ... After Lester overhears Angela saying to Janie's that she would sleep him [Lester] if he "builds up his chest and arms", Lester begins to lift weights and even starts jogging with his gay next door neighbors. ... When he realizes that Angela, the young, supple, teenage beauty finds him minutely attractive, it offers L...

• Word Count: 1666
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Carolyn is cheating on Lester with a fellow real estate agent, while Lester almost cheats on Carolyn with his daughter's best friend, Angela, played by Mena Suvari. ... The roses are used predominately to symbolize the beauty of Angela who is also incredibly shallow and dishonest. ... It is as though Lester is representative of this change; as a child, Lester was the Beaver, but as he has aged, Lester has become someone and something that he cannot fully recognize or understand. ... Jane's friend, Angela, struggles with serious insecurities about her beauty and sexuality. ... Ang...

• Word Count: 2528
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography

Angela Hayes, Jane's friend, makes her choice of losing her virginity to Lester. ... The moment Lester lays eyes on Angela Hayes, Jane's best friend whom Lester considers the "beauty," he falls into a spell of intense infatuation. ... At the last minute, Lester's conscious gets the best of him when Angela makes the announcement that she is a virgin. ... Jane also has to deal with Angela's growing fascination with the possibility of sleeping with Lester, a consideration that disgusts her. ... All Jane wants is attention from her dad, but Lester is preoccupied with being ...

• Word Count: 3509
• Approx Pages: 14
• Grade Level: High School

Jane is also jealous of Lester's love for Angela - it seems he cares more for her than his own daughter. ... On the outside, Angela and Jane's friendship seems close and relatively normal. ... In his fantasies of Angela, they are always shown with the colour red - Angela floating on a bed of rose petals, or soaking in a tub covered in red roses. In Lester and Angela's near-sex encounter, the vase of red roses is easily seen in the frame. ... The rose petals seen in Lester's fantasises towards Angela can also reflect Carolyn's restrained intimacy towards Lester. ...

• Word Count: 1966
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

Early on in the movie, the viewer is introduced to Angela Hayes, the stunning best friend of Lester's daughter, Jane. As the movie progresses, Angela entertains the idea of having sex with Lester, much to Janes disgust, and Lester repeatedly dreams about making love to this girl that is not even half his age. During the climax of the movie, Lester's fantasy of Angela becomes a reality where both he and Angela make sexual advances towards each other. At the last minute Lester's conscious gets the best of him when Angela makes the announcement that she has "never done this before....

• Word Count: 1577
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

Lester's journey begins when he falls in love with Jane's sexy best friend Angela, who comes to him in his dreams, encompassed in rose petals. In a bid to make himself more attractive to Angela, Lester begins to work out, so that he can "look good naked". ... The change in Angela was shown by altering her appearance. ... After Angela reveals to Lester that she is in fact a virgin, he wraps her in a blanket and tells her how beautiful is, finally being the father that his own daughter Jane often did not have. After finding out from Angela that Jane is happy and, to be specific, "in lo...

• Word Count: 1983
• Approx Pages: 8

Another character that pretends to be living her American dream is Angela. ... While watching her talk to Jane, we learn that Angela's American dream is to be a model. ... Much like Caroline, Angela pretends to be living her dream in an attempt to convince herself that she is. ... Much like Caroline, Angela is striving to fit the expectations that society has set for her. Lester and Ricky are somewhat the opposites of Caroline and Angela. ...

• Word Count: 1190
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

Unfortunately for Lester, it is too late to fix his life. ... Little does Lester know that the object of his obsession Angela is in the same boat. ... In all actuality, Angela is a virgin and just lies to people to make herself feel like she fits in. ... Angela gets angry and hurt when Ricky calls her "ordinary" because deep down inside she knows that ordinary is all she is striving to be. Carolyn is trying her hardest like Angela to fit in. ...

• Word Count: 773
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Her friend Angela is at first a model- people seem to love her. ... Then Frank approaches Lester and kisses him. ... Angela's opinion of him became his own. ... Angela's Ludus love led him to begin to care about his appearance. ... Angela was unable to follow through, and Lester was forced to become a father figure to a person he had spent a lot of time fantasizing about. ...

• Word Count: 1432
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

Is this the shining light in Lester's life? ... Ricky dresses like, Angela Hayes aptly points out, "a bible salesman- - being black and white outfit with a grey woollen vest. ... It is particularly evident when Angela complements Lester on his arms. ... The very first encounter with Angela is an ideal example - Lester sits flat in the dark audience, until Angela catches his eye. ... In Jane's room, he is lit by a hard side light and forcefully tells Angela how "ordinary- she really is. ...

• Word Count: 1778
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

Angela represented Lester's yearning for respect, power and, of course beauty. Lester's thoughts about Angela were pure but not perverted. ... Angela is not Lester's highway to bliss, but she is at least a catalyst for his freedom. ... As a friend of Lester's daughter, Angela is the classic all-American blond that will change Lester's life unexpectedly. Angela notices Lester leering at her, but instead of being disgusted she appreciates it. ...

• Word Count: 2385
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: High School

Angela represented Lester's yearning for respect, power and, of course beauty. Lester's thoughts about Angela were pure but not perverted. ... Angela is not Lester's highway to bliss, but she is at least a catalyst for his freedom. ... As a friend of Lester's daughter, Angela is the classic all-American blond that will change Lester's life unexpectedly. Angela notices Lester leering at her, but instead of being disgusted she appreciates it. ...

• Word Count: 2253
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

However, to grasp just how poorly Lester handles fatherhood, one should break down the NFI scale and grade Lester on one criterion at a time. ... In one scene, he could be sending positive reinforcement to his very low self-esteemed daughter, but instead defers to lift weights in order to win the heart of Jane's teenage friend, Angela. ... Even then, Lester becomes easily distracted with watching and focusing all of his attention on Angela, who also is a cheerleader. ... Lester's engagement, or commitment, to Jane appears very strong at the beginning of the movie when after a bri...

• Word Count: 1015
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Until he meets his daughter's friend, Angela, and he becomes entranced with her beauty. ... Angela, Mena Suvari, is Jane's best friend, is obsessed with herself. ... At this point Lester realizes that possessions aren't important life. In a scene which Carolyn confronts Lester about his new car, he then tries to make Carolyn realize how much he loves her and she says "Lester watch the couch don't spill beer on the couch" and Lester replies "It's just a couch! ... The most important act is the last day of Lester's life. ...

• Word Count: 1172
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

He starts working out to gain the attention of Angela, a friend of his daughter's who brags about her sexual exploits every weekend and thinks "the worst thing anyone can be is normal" (Mendes). ... Fitts soon catches onto Ricky and Lester's odd behavior. ... It turns out Lester is shot and killed by Ricky's father. Lester may have been overlooking Jane but death is a harsh concept. ... As Lester said, "their marriage was for show" (Mendes). ...

• Word Count: 660
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

asks Lester. ... While Lester is going through this process, he discovers a girl whom he looks upon as the perfect representation, in his mind, of beauty. ... Ultimately, Lester's end comes at his moment of redemption, and it resonates with quiet irony. ... This new Lester comes too late to help give direction to his daughter and be a father figure. ... Fortunately he does have the opportunity to give some direction and comfort to his daughter's lolita cheerleader friend Angela who has the opportunity to face up to her own flaws....

• Word Count: 713
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

It begins with a moving bird's eye view of Lester's street. ... It is a long shot of Jim and Jim running with Lester towards the camera. ... Lester is finally taking his life back. ... Lester looks disheveled. ... Angela is a fake, also. ...

• Word Count: 1033
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Later in the night, the Colonel pays a visit to Lester and tries to hit on him in the garage. Since he mistakenly drawed the conclusion that Lester was gay, he came to a rude awakening with his scene with Lester. ... They show rose petals whenever Lester thinks of Angela. The roses show the potential happiness Lester could have. ... It is present in Caroline, Angela, the whole Burnham family as a whole, and the color red, along with red roses. ...

• Word Count: 1505
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

These scenes are most frequently those with the nubile "American Beauty- Character, Angela. ... The scenes with Angela are (or like that of) a fantasy in which forbidden passion can be explored as a form of love. ... In the scene where Angela is dancing in the high school gym watched only by Lester she opens her top up top up to reveal a flow of roses flying out her top and towards Lester. Lester's view in this scene suggests that this girl is love. ... After a heated argument between Lester and Caroline, Lester throws a plate at the wall, smashing the photograph. ...

• Word Count: 2086
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

His mother, Angela, often had to go bed for food and money. ... They all seemed to have a hatred for the family because Angela had married a man from the north who had an odd protestant manner. ... This is because they hated him for marrying their Angela. ... These people that were continuously putting these hurdles in his was were people that you would lest expect it from, they came from the people of the church. ... Angela's Ashes can be said to be a coming of age story for Frank McCourt since it shows his childhood and how he became a man throughout it. ...

• Word Count: 2041
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

It's our typical family with both a working husband (Lester) and wife (Carolyn). They have a beautiful teenager by the name of Jane, who"s friends with your typical high school gossip girl (Angela). ... Lester than started to look at things a bit more differently. ... After Lester introduced himself and found that ! ... Carolyn has a more realistic relationship with Jane than Lester. ...

• Word Count: 1374
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School