American Beauty could not have made it to where it is now without a brilliant script. Mixed with drama and comedy, the script deals out a perfect blend without weighing towards one genre more than the other. At some points, especially in the beginning, Spacey's and the rest of the cast's normal dialogue is mockingly funny of suburbia's ritualistic conversations. Further on, when things turn deeply serious, the script smoothly shifts directions to fit the mood. As for characters, Alan Ball dealt out some wickedly strange people.
Direction is also a major player.
As soon as the movie begins, it snaps to Birch and shows her on amateur camera saying how she wants the filmmaker to kill her father. It then goes to a view of the suburbs and has Spacey talking, describing his life in past tense, even from past his death. But throughout the movie director Sam Mendes throws a lot of curves, especially with the triple replay he seems to like so much. Transition between scenes and characters was also well done, and the final scene, as Spacey pondered over his life, was well done. The climax, along with the fight at the dinner table, had to be the two dramatic highlights of the film.