Stunningly powerful.

Rating: 9/10 (30 April 2008)

Once again, Edward Norton delivers one of the best performances I have ever seen an actor do in this brutal, explosive, and powerful tale about the ideas and influence of racism in America. This is a heavy film with some great suspense moments, however nothing really jumps out at you despite the film being just around two hours long. The whole time I was amazed and transfixed by the acting and writing, but it never really shocked me in the way I expected to be. In my opinion, this is the only factor in keeping it from being a perfect film and one of the best of the 1990s. As mentioned before, Edward Norton proves he is arguably the best actor of this generation with a phenomenal performance that makes him so evil in black and white, as well as being able to sympathize for him in color. The supporting actors are good as well, and the directing and writing are equally strong. Certainly a film to see, American History X is stunningly powerful.