Video Examines The Scenes Cut From AMERICAN BEAUTY and How That Decision Saved The Film

As Lessons From The Screenplay points out in his video, films don't get much better than American Beauty. So it may shock you to learn that nearly a 1/5th of the film was cut prior to it coming to theaters! That's a considerable chunk to cut that, in the modern internet era, would raise some eyebrows and get some traction around the net. Yet Sam Mendes took out what some would consider key scenes and ended up with a cinematic masterpiece.

ALL of this cut content was done for the better. I think you'll agree after learning what was taken out!