Gripping and thought-provoking

Rating: 8/10 (17 June 2000)

I've been wanting to see this film since it first came out. What took me so long to get around to that, I don't know, but I'm glad I gathered myself to experience the occasion. First and foremost, Ed Norton has reassured me that he is probably the best male actor of his generation. It's a stunning performance, it's almost like a floating camera followed a real skinhead through life and in prison and we get to see how he acts.
I was glad to find out that this wasn't a movie like Higher Learning where the students had all sorts of racial tendencies for no apparent reason at all, and were so extreme about it. I mean, come on, have you EVER seen a college campus like that? But not American History X, the story is always intriguing. What's best about it is how it shows how there is a false sense of security in numbers. Many of the blacks and whites think they'll be all right hanging together as long as they don't get killed, but little do they know that their lifestyle is progressively leading them to destruction every day they band together in hate.
But what kept this movie from being the greatest of its genre are some of its forced moments. A few come to mind right away. One is when the skinheads plan a party for him the day he gets out of prison. He tells a select few that he has changed and he wants out. This leads to a scuffle with one of the members and results in Seth (the fat guy) to pull a gun on Ed Norton. Ed's girlfriend, who was elated to see him and was in love with him before he was locked up just yells "Do it! Shoot him, Seth!" without really knowing what was going on. The other is the whole idea of how Derek (Ed Norton) got to be a skinhead in the first place. He is very happy to be under the teaching of a black principal at his high school, but when his dad puts doubt in his mind by siting affirmative-action at his job we don't really get to see how it festers into full-blown racism. Somehow I don't believe that most white kids whose father was killed by blacks in a non-racially motivated way would tattoo a swastika on their chest and start a white revolt.
Still, I am recommending the film for its captivating qualities and the acting performances of not only Norton, but everyone else in the film. The style is great, color to show the present and black and white (which is probably symbolic in some sort of way) to show the past. This film is definitely one of the better race relations movies I've seen.
*** (out of 4)