Depressed, middle-aged Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is unappreciated by his controlling wife Carolyn (Anette Bening) and unloved by his rebellious teenage daughter Jane (Thora Birch). With his dead-end job, non-existent sex-life, and the relentless repetition of his stilted suburban lifestyle, Lester is headed straight for a mid-life crisis. He falls for his daughter’s friend Angela, an arrogant blonde with hopes of being a model, who brags constantly about her prospering sex life to Jane. Lester becomes obsessed with Angela, and as a result he quits his job to flip burgers at a fast-food restaurant, starts working out, smoking weed, and ultimately destroys his relationship with his wife, Carolyn, who begins having an affair with the “Real Estate King.”
His antics embarrass his daughter to no end, and she, in the meantime, seeks comfort from creepy next-door neighbor Ricky, drug dealer and documentarian, whose father is a violent, homophobic ex-war sergeant. Ricky is supplying Lester with marijuana, but the sergeant mistakes their relationship for a sexual one and his overprotective instincts set in.
A climactic scene brings Lester right where he always wanted to be: staring at Angela’s naked body as she waits for him to make love to her. Then she breaks the news: she’s a virgin.
This is a darkly comic drama about the lives of three members of the same dysfunctional family, who can’t stand each other. It sheds light on what lies beneath the superficial surface of small-town suburban life.