Who killed Lester? Colonel right?
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — American Beauty
Mescaline1337 — 9 years ago(July 02, 2016 07:38 PM)
Ok so after like 10 years I watched this movie again and I'm just wondering, Colonel killed Lester right? Most likely he did but I just want to be sure cuz idk, Corolyn wanted to kill him as well!
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Lester_Burnham_Risen — 9 years ago(July 03, 2016 07:01 PM)
Think REAL motive.
Who do you say now?
http://www.kindleflippages.com/ablog/ -
Lester_Burnham_Risen — 9 years ago(July 04, 2016 04:55 PM)
how do you KNOW it was Lester's blood?
http://www.kindleflippages.com/ablog/ -
johnhassink — 9 years ago(July 05, 2016 05:42 PM)
Well, one can't be 100% sure ofcourse, but from whom (or what) else would it be? Barbara's?
Also,
The empty slot showing in the Colonel's gun cabinet. Granted, this doesn't irrefutably prove that he, himself wielded it, since Ricky had a key as well (nor does it prove that the missing gun was in fact the one used for the murder).
However -
*It couldn't have been Ricky or Jane, as they were upstairs, in her bedroom, when they heard the shot
*Angela was in the bathroom when it happened
*Buddy had no motive, as far as I can tell. Neither did the Jims, or Brad
So, I guess it boils down to either the Colonel or Carolyn.
To be honest, I didn't pay a lot of attention to the type of gun that we see being pointed at the back of Lester's head, nor to any of the guns seen in the movie, for that matter. Did Carolyn and the Colonel both own the same type of gun?
A far stretch might be, that Ricky hired a hitman to kill Lester, but I have the impression that Ricky was actually sympathetic to Lester, and he just doesn't seem like the kind of guy to do anything like that, anyway (though he sure would have the cash to pay for it).
From the "Trivia" section:
Another version of the script [] involves Mrs. Fitts finding her husband's bloody clothes, and hiding them immediately after.
Since I love this intriguing movie and always assumed that it was, in fact, the Colonel, I'm very interested in your take. -
Lester_Burnham_Risen — 9 years ago(July 05, 2016 08:03 PM)
Buddy had no motive
"But you WILL remember me next time"
http://www.kindleflippages.com/ablog/ -
johnhassink — 9 years ago(July 06, 2016 06:39 PM)
Could you please elaborate? I may be missing something, but I honestly see no reason why Buddy would want to kill Lester.
Even if Buddy was lying to Carolyn about having ended his relationship with (uhm, forgot her name), he did dump Carolyn, after all. Even if he hadn't done that, Lester was clearly dealing laconically with the situation when he 'caught' them; he obviously didn't give a damn.
What I mean to say is: Lester hardly had any 'dirt' on Buddy, and Buddy knew that even if Lester would have, he wouldn't hold it against him anyway. Sure, they didn't like eachother, at all, but merely disliking someone is not enough of a reason to kill somebody. Even for Buddy. Why would he risk his pretty succesful life and career to off someone that briefly slighted him and poses no danger to him at all? I don't buy it. -
Lester_Burnham_Risen — 9 years ago(July 06, 2016 11:25 PM)
Go back to see the King and Ms B at lunch and his Family Law upcoming losses WITHOUT any dirt - then ADD the dirt and he comes out with nothing.
http://www.kindleflippages.com/ablog/ -
MissTexasMcCoy — 9 years ago(July 10, 2016 01:00 AM)
No offense intended, but I don't quite get why some people are confused about the ending of this movie. It has always been pretty clear to me that
Lester was shot by Colonel Fitts. He'd finally gotten the guts to come out of the closet, yet was immediately rejected by the one man he'd chosen to come out to. His mind was blown at that point and it was too much for him to handle, so he snapped and shot Lester. We are clearly shown him scurrying back home frantic with blood on himself.
I always got the impression from the film that Carolyn showed up immediately after the murder and found her dead husband seated at the table with his life oozing out of his head (the same way Ricky had), which is why we are shown the shot of her in the closet falling apart and embracing Lester's clothes; she had spent the last few months of his life foolishly convincing herself that she despised him to the point of wanting him dead, yet actually
seeing
him dead made her realize she still loved him despite everything. She didn't kill him. She just found him dead. Colonel Fitts inadvertently saved her from the awful fate of killing a man she actually loved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
George Lassos the Moon
(v)..
..) .*)
(. (. -
Lester_Burnham_Risen — 9 years ago(July 17, 2016 08:38 PM)
Cept he did not die coz there was no white line around his body
that happens in all the best CI episodes when a bloke dies
http://www.kindleflippages.com/ablog/ -
Mescaline1337 — 9 years ago(August 09, 2016 05:36 PM)
Well said, that's what I was thinking too. However, I still can't be 100% sure cuz there are other characters who could kill Lester for whatever tiny reason which they had, and things were complicated at the end of movie..
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yash-78939 — 9 years ago(July 21, 2016 02:24 PM)
well I think colonel killed him because he only knew his gay secret or I think the colonel wife killed him, as she was little mental and heard that lester ruined her house, she went nuts and killed lester in front of her husband as he was trying to protect lester maybe his gay crush that's why protecting him but he was too late to safe him.
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Lester_Burnham_Risen — 9 years ago(July 22, 2016 04:39 PM)
Carolyn metaphorically had already killed him
Yes, as we saw at dinner table at start where BOTH Caroline and Brat "kill him"
BUT the movie explains how he totally ROSE from that and had a clear path to his own future, even with a dolly bird for sex and to drive in the mustang
then the fag killed him, just as his whole life [and divorce money] was coming together.
http://www.kindleflippages.com/ablog/ -
jb681831 — 9 years ago(October 05, 2016 07:43 PM)
How is this even a discussion?
It was Colonel Fitts, period. The only other person it would have been is Corolyn. We know Corolyn didn't do it because they show where she was when the shot is fired, she is walking in the rain.
First they show Jane and Ricky when they hear the shot, then they show Angela when she hears the shot, then they show Carolyn walking in the rain, it's not as loud because she's outside in the rain and she doesn't hear it, but we do.
As far as if it could have been anyone else.that's moronic. -
tw_sm — 9 years ago(October 06, 2016 10:12 AM)
Along with the evidence of the gunshot sound, there is very clear visual evidence that shows the Colonel is the killer.
Although Carolyn's gun looks similar, it is not the gun used in the killing.
at 1:00:03, we see the murder weapon in the Colonel's gun cabinet.
at 1:13:38/58, we see Carolyn's gun.
at 1:36:45, we again see Carolyn's gun.
at 151:25, we see the murder weapon again.
In the closing montage, we see the Colonel walk past his gun cabinet and the murder weapon is missing.