The Set Up Chris Cooper's Col. Fitts is a homophobic, rigid father to a boy who sells pot to Spacey's mid-life crisis-addled Lester Burnham. The film comes to a climax after Col. Fitts thinks he sees his son performing fellatio on Lester. The Colonel's life is turned upside down. After kicking his son out he traipses through the rain in a white shirt, eyes red, and enters Lester's garage-turned-gym. Lester reluctantly hugs the sobbing Colonel. And then it happens. In For The Kill Col. Fitts looks up and kisses him. Lester's shocked and pushes him away. He says, "I'm sorry, you got the wrong idea." The Colonel walks out, furious, defeated, humiliated. What Makes It So Great It's not a kiss that makes the gay community cheer - or anyone for that matter. But it's a scene that speaks volumes to the hatred we hold for others that, in reality, is the hatred we have for ourselves. The Colonel grasps at shirtless Lester's back. As if he were both lustful and angry. And it's not the kiss that lasts but the memory of it. It's the catalyst for one of the most morbidly serene endings on film.
Ian Tilman Nichols is a film reviewer and enthusiast based out of Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA. You can hear more of his thoughts on films by checking out the It's Only a Podcast and Flicksation podcasts.
