Watchable, but heavy-handed

Rating: 7/10 (12 June 2007)

There's a strong performance from Edward Norton in 'American History X', a film about racial tensions; but also some heavy-handedness. The personal development of the characters is depicted in a rather deterministic fashion; Norton's Nazi is far more eloquent than any real-life fascist, while Avery Brooks' teacher is blessed (in a clichéd and patronising gift so often granted to black characters) with unsurmountable gravitas. The direction is also rather obvious, with solemn voice-overs, an over-the-top score, and the needless use of black-and-white photography to differentiate the recent past from the present. While the underlying squalor, and drug abuse, that promotes gang violence, is hardly shown at all. Norton makes it watchable; but it's all rather obvious.