Just another buddy film

Rating: 5/10 (26 January 2001)

I was expecting an intelligent analysis of the sociology of racism amongst urban whites in the USA. I thought that I would gain new insight into the mind set of extremists.
But I got a whole load of standard liberal Hollywood hocum, wrapped in the familiar buddy scenario. With the exception of our brilliant and dangerous hero (played by Edward Norton) and his little brother, the neo-nazis are just a bunch of ugly simpletons. Their shadowy leader, Cam, played by Stacey Keach is .. ho hum.. another one dimensional figure of total nastiness. Dr Evil without a sense of humour.
In total contrast there is the black Mr Novak on the 90's - Dr Sweeney from the local high school. The nicest, wisest, most one dimensional guy you could every meet - and perhaps the most boring. Avery Brooks acts so badly in this roll I hope I never see him on screen again.
And Elliot Gould is resurrected for some reason as a Jewish love interest that the film just didn't need. Yikes!
Of course, the protagonist's white extremist friends betray him in jail and he is beguiled, and later protected, by a charming young black guy who makes him laugh.
Funny that a film about racism succeeds in making everything black and white. We all know that truth is dominated by shades of grey. But unfortunately it's difficult to make a good story out of the greys.
The message is - hating is a waste of time because it doesn't make your life any better. Yes, it's that deep.
It think this flick would have sunk at the box office if it wasn't for the tremendous screen presence of Edward Norton.
If you liked this you probably will like Colors, Higher Learning and Falling Down. All dismal attempts to provide context and understanding of American racism.
I don't think that Hollywood has added understanding since The Ox-Bow Incident (in the 40s), Bad Day At Black Rock (in the 50s) and In The Heat of The Night (in the 60's).