'American History X' is a superbly acted, rich and emotional story that is sure to leave everyone happy and sad at the end

Rating: 9/10 (27 January 2013)

As part of my challenge to see all the movies on IMDb's Top 250, I randomly decided to check out 'American History X' which is a movie I've been rather interested in seeing. Going into the movie, I wasn't sure if this would be a good movie or a bad movie or simply just a little disappointing. I had no clue what to expect. I can say, as the first scene ended, I had a huge smile on my face and was soaked into the movie.
American History X is the tale of two brothers, Derek and Danny Vinyard. Derek Vinyard is the leader of a street gang who attempt to bring equality amongst the black and white people as well as dominating over them. Sent to jail, his younger brother Danny becomes much like him and so, Derek must try to stop his brother from following his trails. Despite that being the plot of the movie, this story is far more deeper in every way. I cared so much about Derek Vinyard as well as his brother Danny. The way the director made Derek both a criminal trying to simply achieve justice amongst the two races as well as such a caring brother and son to the family was what made him such a great character. You could tell that he simply didn't want his brother to become the person he did. The director did a fantastic job giving such a rich history to these two characters.
The acting in the movie by Edward Norton is probably his best performance, yes I enjoy this performance more than Fight Club. He was absolutely fantastic stealing scene after scene he was in, which is pretty much the whole movie. Edward Furlong, John Connor from Terminator 2, does an absolute fine job playing his younger brother. I do not care what people say, Furlong is a good actor.
The cinematography in the movie is far superior to most movies that came around during that time. The idea of black and white for past events was clever and easily helps you understand the movie and the two are easily distinguished. The music in the movie is very good, but of course, in this type of movie, the soundtrack isn't important. For a drama to succeed, the characters and story have to be interesting, and this film easily accomplishes that.
During the movie, I kept guessing what would be the next thing to happen but every time I was surprised at the way the director took this movie. The film is just under two hours, but seriously, this movie felt a good half hour shorter. This happens when you love a movie.
***SPOILERS*** The way American History X ended with Danny being shot in the school bathroom was shocking. It was simply that sad due to the performance that Furlong gave and the character's developed story. The way it ended with Danny narrating how the two races weren't supposed to ever fight but to be friends to each other was perhaps one of the finest endings to a movie ever. Seeing Derek mourn for the loss of his brother was shocking.
****ENDING SPOILERS*** Overall, to sum it up, American History X is definitely a must see movie for movie fans however isn't recommended to those under the age of 13 due to the racism in this movie. That being said, those who haven't seen this movie, please do so now as you will be pleasantly surprised and how good this movie exactly is. If you don't see it, its your own personal loss...