so so

Rating: Null/10 (29 January 2003)

American History X has its heart in the right area but unfortunately just because the topic of a movie deals with a topic that can expose you to things you never want to be exposed to, doesn't necessarily make it a good movie.
The movie involves Derek Vinyard who has an experience that has changed his life, his thoughts, his feelings, and his attitude to the way he sees the world, which before was a black and white world full of hate while in prison, where he meets Lamont. I feel the best moments are between Derek and Lamont. After getting out of prison his attention is focused on his little brother, Danny, who has begun to wander down the same road he had walked down, and Derek is trying to convince his brother that his ideas were wrong and the path he took was bad. The problem i have is that he manages to convince his brother all in one day, for something that took him what seems to be a lifetime of hate and took some serious convincing including a couple shots up the anus he manages to get his brother with no resistance.
The best moments are when Derek and Lamont are communicating and arguing with each other, it exposes the Derek character to someone he never really had a chance to meet.
The other impressive moments come with the tattoos. The tattoos served as a symbol of pride before he went to jail, he had no shame in showing it off. But when he gets out of jail, the tattoos serve as a reminder of what he was and what he did, and he can never get rid of it. It becomes shame. This is shown when he is at home and he has finished taking a shower, he stares at himself in the mirror looking at the tattoos, this moment can't be described words, its a scene you have to see you literally feel the pain.
All in all, from the beautiful beginning to the ironic ending this movie is only considered good because it deals with important topics. Whether the movie was made like a good movie is different question. Edward Norton has his moments but those are just moments.