Disturbing and powerful

Rating: 8/10 (23 December 2006)

American History X stars Edward Norton as a racist, xenophobic skinhead who is convicted of murder and sent to prison. It follows the effect of this on his family, specifically on his younger brother, played by Edward Furlong, who idolizes him and yearns to follow in his footsteps.
The movie is powerful and disturbing in the insider's look it gives us into the dark world of violent racist skinhead groups. For this reason, it is very difficult to watch. But it's an important film, because it tackles a subject that Hollywood is usually content to shy away from.
Edward Norton, always one of my favourite actors, has one of his best roles of all time here. He is absolutely brilliant in his portrayal of Derek Vinyard, a character whose charisma and intelligence could have led him down pretty much any path, but who chose the wrong road. How many infamous men in history have had the exact same qualities? Countless. Norton embraces the role, wholly embodying the most terrible qualities of his character, and refusing to shy away from giving his all to even the most difficult scenes. He has even transformed his entire body to play this part (compare his muscular build here to his scrawniness in "Fight Club", for instance). Norton is so believable, and so compelling to watch, that it's all too easy to see how he could have recruited and inspired so many people to his fanatically hateful ideology. Also brilliant is Avery Brooks as the schoolteacher who tries so hard to redeem Derek when most people would have written him off long ago. Notable among smaller roles are performances by Fairuza Balk as Vinyard's girlfriend and Beverly D'Angelo as his conflicted mother. This is a dramatic film, and the acting has made it what it is.
My criticisms are few. Furlong's acting isn't quite as strong - at times it seems like he's reading lines aloud for a teacher. And without giving too much away, the ending comes across as a bit too contrived. At times, the movie skirts dangerously close to after-school-special territory, and it can be a bit heavy-handed in its preachiness. It's not a perfect film, by any means.
But it's a provocative film, one that I urge parents to watch with their teenagers and that is sure to open up a lot of discussion. A must-see.