One of our favorites is the “cute meet” between Lester and his daughter Jane’s best friend, Angela. There are some truly terrific examples of how to write a scene in this script. In fact, the opening twenty-five pages are a masterclass in how to establish character, stakes and genre as the script pulls you into a web of lies set in a suburban hell. All the while we hear his voiceover from beyond the grave… We then cut to said father-a supposed loser named Lester Burnham-and follow him as he begins another miserable day at the office.
The script opens with Jane staring into the camera-a handheld device operated by an unseen man-nonchalantly discussing killing her father. And, in our opinion, a modern masterpiece of screenwriting. He went on to write for the theater and then television, penning Grace Under Fire and Cybil.Īlthough there are elements of comedy in American Beauty, for which he won the Oscar for best screenplay in 2000, it is overall a drama. One of the best drama film scripts you should read: American Beauty.Īlan Ball graduated from Florida State University with a degree in theater arts.
0 kommentar(er)
