American History X, A Brutally Honest Assessment of Society

Rating: 9/10 (8 October 2006)

This film is not for the week of heart, the superficial, or the children. There are scenes within which are brutal, repulsive, and vile. Yet, they need to be. American History X focuses on a family fallen to Neo-Nazism and arrogant white supremacy. Opposite are gangs of street-hardened minorities and illegal immigrants. A school principal fights against the hatred. Avery Brooks, while rarely on screen commands the drama and bends in to his iron-clad will.
The result is a film dark as midnight and as effective as a hired killer. Its message is sharp and precise as the film enters its final moments. The oppressors are all too human, their victims far from innocent. It portrays a world which is not simple black and white but shades of all too familiar dark gray.
This is a film you need to see, to appreciate, to understand. It is a Schindler's List set in the modern day, with the same expert display human nature shown with the most delicate mastery of the cinematic arts.