One of the Most Important Films of the 1990s, Should Be Required Viewing

Rating: Null/10 (19 September 2000)

"American History X" was overlooked in 1998, but was probably the best film of the year, with the exception of "The Thin Red Line". The film deals with a young man (Edward Norton in an Oscar-nominated performance) who goes over the edge when his fire-fighting father is killed trying to put out a blaze in a crack-house in an African-American neighborhood. Now Norton becomes a neo-Nazi skinhead who falls in with an evil businessman (Stacey Keach). After Norton kills two African-Americans who are trying to steal his truck, he gets sentenced to a prison term which is much shorter than it should have been. On the outside, his younger brother (Edward Furlong) is becoming the same type of evil person that Norton is. When Norton gets out of prison, he shows that he has had a change of heart and realizes that hate is wrong. After Furlong realizes that Norton has truly changed, he wants to know what happened to Norton during his prison stay. Norton tells his story in flashbacks which are shown in black-and-white. We see Norton being cut down to size while he's in prison. He is betrayed by those same type of people that he thought he supported and befriends a young African-American inmate. When Norton learns that his new friend is in prison for an even longer stretch than him for a somewhat minor crime (trying to steal a television), Norton realizes that the system that he hates so much is really more fair to him than minorities. Norton's story touches Furlong and they abandon a lifestyle which has almost destroyed their lives. However, there are enemies lurking in the shadows (Keach's neo-Nazis and local African-Americans) and revenge against Norton and his family may be a real possibility in the end. "American History X" is an unflinching film which is very difficult to sit through, but is well-worth one's time. The screenplay is excellent and the editing techniques are surprisingly impressive as well (cutting from vivid color to black-and-white sequences). Director and cinematographer Tony Kaye was disgusted at the final-cut of this film and went public beforehand to acknowledge that the final product was not his vision. This testimonial created controversy and stole much of the film's thunder when it was first released; this was really unfortunate. The greatest thing that makes "American History X" work are the players. Edward Norton is excellent, as usual. Edward Furlong shows amazing range as well. Beverly D'Angelo, Elliott Gould, and Stacey Keach all do the best work of their careers as well. An amazing accomplishment and one of those films that should be required viewing to all young people. Probably the most under-rated film of the 1990s. 5 stars out of 5.