She's brandishing the gun, psyching herself up for a confrontation, but I can't see her intending to kill him. Was she going to pistol whip him into agreeing to a divorce or something?
sharei got to think she was prepping herself to take him out, MAYBE.
- self help tape to not be the victim, after SHE fucked up fucking the real estate guy, meaning he would get HALF of her money in divorce like he mentioned earlier
- she was in a terrible place, making poor decisions, like movie people have to to keep it interesting
- i'm not sure she really knew what she was going to do, maybe use gun as some power play on him? a threat only?
- she clearly regrets her POSSIBLE gun decision by hastily throwing it in the hamper after seeing him dead, and hugging his shirts with true loss
- "I refuse to be a victim. Lester.... I have something I have to say to you...."
she lost all her POWER at the end
he had finally turned around and gained his power all back... then life hits you BAM!
That sounds about right. I'm thinking back to "American Beauty". If I remember correctly, she was caught red handed with another guy. Her hubby, Lester, is now 100% aware of it (her marital indiscretion) and lets her know -he's going to do whatever he wants - she will never tell him what to do, ever again. After rolling it around in her head a few times, I'm sure she figured out she's had it. Getting rid of Lester would save a costly (not to mention embarrassing) divorce. Knowing what a phony she was (hyper concerned with appearances) I could see it going thru her mind "I need to kill Lester". Would she have actually done it - could she have killed him? I don't know. If I was betting I'd bet no, she wouldn't take it that far.
shareI doubt she would have too.
I wish I could have remembered what I thought when I saw it in the theater the very first time.... I was thinking several different players could have been the one sneaking up and shooting him, the wife, the kid, the daughter, even the sexed up young girl, the cloested gay, but I truly didn't see it coming who it was. I think the wife was setup as a possible to throw us off, but I cant remember why I suspected the rest.
rewatching it, I already know, so I can't NOT KNOW who it is, and see it fresh again suspecting the rest. still a great film to me though.
Well, I cant join you there. I immediately suspected the gay Father. Why? Because just moments previously he had come on to Lester and was rejected. What was his name - I'm going to guess (not it looking it up) - Col. Fitts. Anyway, as you can see thru the movie, Col. Fitts detests the fact that he is gay. Plus, he's spent a lifetime covering it up. He's even worried his son might be gay. You take this into account (the cat is out of the bag), plus the fact he had all that weaponry - he was my immediate suspect.
I cant remember what I thought of Lester's wife at the time. Other than she was a complete phony. But looking back now, yeah, we are on the same page there. It's hypothesis but I agree - she may have scared him off, but I don't think she had it in her to kill him.
But again, when I originally saw the movie - (probably around 2000, VHS tape) - I thought Fitts had killed Lester.
I think it was just a red herring. I don’t believe that she would’ve been able to go through with it. I do think it showed just how far she was willing to go to try and to protect the image that she built up.
shareHere's the real issue:
Until the audience actually SEES the gun, was there any indication that these characters were gun owners/users? Or did the screenwriter just assume that everyone in Bill Clinton's America had guns stashed away in their house?
So Carolyn (Annette Benning's character) was told by her lover how shooting a gun was a great stress reliever and was recommended to try it. Which she did.
And loved.
That's the only set up we have for the (in my opinion unrealistic) tease we briefly get at the end that she might decide to shoot Lester.
So yes, Carolyn did presumably have a gun in the house, hidden, or perhaps kept in her car as a new gun owner.