Edward Norton plays a convincing bad guy

Rating: 10/10 (20 May 1999)

This film has to be counted as one of the single most confronting films I have ever seen. Not often enough do we see films that evoke an emotional response as real as if the scene actually took place in our life - American History X causes this to the extreme. I went into the cinema expecting a similar film to 'ROMPER STOMPER' depicting a skinhead gang being violent. What I got was not the story of a group, but the frightfully realistic tale of an individual. With Ed Norton playing the powerful lead role as the confused Nazi, I found myself holding my breath or feeling physically sick throughout every scene. Near the end I was disappointed to see the beginnings of a typical 'Hollywood' happy ending, but my feelings soon changed when the conclusion shifted to an incredibly powerful and emotional end. My congratulations to the production cast and crew for producing a visually stunning and powerfully depicted film. Never before have I been speechless while walking out of a cinema...