It was one of those days when it’s a minute away from snowing. And there’s this electricity in the air, you can almost hear it, right? And this bag was just… dancing with me. Like a little kid begging me to play with it. For fifteen minutes. That’s the day I realized that there was this entire life behind things, and this incredibly benevolent force that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid ever. Video’s a poor excuse, I know. But it helps me remember…I need to remember. (distant) Sometimes there’s so much beauty in the world I feel like I can’t take it…and my heart is going to cave in.
Wes Bentley delivers one of several great monologues in Sam Mendes’ 1999 masterpiece American Beauty (Kevin Spacey, as Lester Burnham, delivers others). In Bentley’s monologue, he’s Ricky Fitts, neighbor and love interest of Jane (Thora Birch), explaining a video he made of a plastic bag that seems to “dance” with him.