In the movie American Beauty, one relationship has a particularly strong effect on the outcome of the movie. The relationship between Lester and Angela has a profound impact on the outcome of the movie. Lester, a middle aged man, is caught up in a life that he is unhappy with. Angela, a high school student and friend to Lester's daughter Jane, is a very beautiful young woman whose only worry is the image that she portrays to other people. When Lester first sees Angela, he is struck by her beauty and gets caught up in a fantasy that one would expect a young teenager to be caught up in. Throughout the movie, Lester moves from this fantasy and begins to realize that he is extremely unhappy with the life that he has been leading. Lester changes dramatically throughout the movie, and Angela is the link between Lester's past life and the new life that he is creating for himself.
For years, Lester had tried to allow his wife and daughter to live their lives how they chose to. By allowing Caroline to have a career, and staying as much away from her career as he could, Lester drove himself far away from Caroline. When the movie starts, Lester clearly does not communicate well with his wife. At the dinner table, very little conversation takes place, and when Caroline tries to start up a conversation, neither Lester nor Jane take any interest. After Jane goes to the kitchen, Lester makes the comment to his wife about Jane, "you treat her like an employee." Lester was prompted to say this after Caroline expects Jane to clean up the table as if it were her job. Caroline ignores Lester's remarks and does not care what his opinion is. Tension in between Caroline and Lester is obvious at this point in the movie.
When Caroline and Lester go to watch Jane perform at halftime of a high school basketball game, Lester is only concerned with how long he has to be there and when he will be able to go home.