A Carefully Thought Out Portrayal of the Subject

Rating: 9/10 (15 August 2002)

American History X is in my mind both art and entertainment. The wide array of emotions that the viewer is taken through gives immense entertainment value to it. The style with which the story is delivered adds to that value and earns it the title of art.
The storyline itself is an unusual and remarkable chronicle of events, but the dialogues, setting and characters are portrayed in a non-glamorous, everyday manner. Take for instance the scene in which Derek (Edward Norton) has come home for the first time. Amidst the setting, a small two bedroom flat, Derek's family look genuinely at home. Watching this scene feels somehow peculiar as though you really are snooping in someone's private life, not some kind of At Home With the Vinyards' reality show, but actually as though you are there in some sense. As all the events unfold around you this strange cinematic reality helps to absorb you a little more into the plot, with the ultimate aim that it shares with any story - to make you forget (at least for the duration) that these things didn't really happen.
I believe the idea of this film was not only to give the viewer something to keep them entertained for two hours but also to inform, warn or educate the viewing masses. In a manner to try and make some kind of sense of that which drives the Neo Nazi. As the characters go through their development the key issues that give rise to the irrational hatred of racism and the reasoning that people build to support it are illustrated with a series of bullet-point plot events. We are presented with various different 'flavours' of hatred, and various different classes of racist.
In this film the subject of all kinds of prejudice has been laid out on a public operating table and thoroughly dissected, so that anyone may see what drives the beast. What makes some Humans feel such an intense and unfounded dislike to their fellow man? Whilst it is by no means an exhaustive examination it is detailed and vast in nature, and is an element of the film pivotal to its success.
The performances in American History X also make the final ingredient for our Really Good Movie Cake Mix. There are some excellent Actors in this cast, but in reality the story only has room for two strong performances, and whilst the supporting roles were on the whole excellently played, they were all simply outshone by Norton and Furlong.
I have previously seen only 2 of Norton's leads, the Score and Fight Club. Each and every one of these 3 roles demands a completely different performance from this immensely talented actor, and I cannot fault the manner in which he has risen to the challenge on every occasion here we see a tremendous progression in his character which, despite receiving certain criticisms elsewhere, I believe to have been portrayed flawlessly, which is certainly supported by the fact that when the awards ceremonies came round the following year, Norton was the only man to be holding the awards (Golden Satellite and SEFCA) even against tough competition in that year.

Edward Furlong could not have possibly improved his performance as Derek's younger brother Danny from start to finish. Although it may be true that the film takes a while to find its feet and the better scenes are mostly at the end, there was something about Furlong's performance that shone through even in the opening minutes. He manages to show the sensitivity and intellectual properties of the otherwise boisterous and angry character at just the right levels.
Notable supporting roles come from Ethan Suplee as Seth and Avery Brooks as Sweeney. Ethan has enjoyed fame comedy roles (Particularly throughout the Kevin Smith Films) but here he demonstrates his acting talents in a *slightly* more serious role, I say slightly because despite the dark nature of his character you can't help but grin at some of the more socially impaired qualities of his role. He portrays the typical
Most people will know Avery Brooks from his long standing role as Captain Sisko, a role which requires similar traits to that of Sweeney, it might be because of this that his performance comes off strangely natural when you watch him initially, but on more careful deliberation he seems too wooden in the role, although this is probably partly the fault of the script. Sweeney is a Teacher, with 2 PhD's under his cap, so why is he not teaching at a better college? The character does come across with a certain attitude of wanting to be helping where he can help most, but this good natured quality, even coupled with his caring and compassionate still don't excuse his presence in this college, his position seems to be below him. Sweeney is also as a some sort of Obi-Wan-Kenobi imparting pearls of wisdom at seemingly appropriate times and conveniently saving a lot of time by explaining other events with a few lines instead of requiring a couple of scenes.
All in all American History X is the film maker's way of saying `Why can't we all just get along?' but this film does it with a gun pressed to your temple. The touch subject matter has been carefully considered and then attacked full on, and I must say it works. Although within the first twenty minutes of this film I thought I hadn't seen anything but a glorification of violence and prejudice, it takes the whole film before you see the whole picture (pardon the pun), the grand concept that makes this film more than mere entertainment, it is art.
08/10
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