Extremely powerful and moving. Definitely an Oscar-calibre performance.

Rating: 10/10 (20 July 1999)

When I think of the movie American History X, I see an image. An image of Edward Norton's character, Derek Vinyard, eyes ablaze and standing in the street wearing only a pair of white boxer shorts. The big bold swastika on his chest sticks out and has a sort of character that says, "Hey. Get the f*ck out of my way or you'll be sorry."
The story is about Derek Vinyard (Edward Norton), who is somewhat of a white supremicy leader, and his younger brother Daniel Vinyard (Edward Furlong). Derek has just spent 3 years of his life in jail because he has murdered 2 people. American History X chronicles the emotional and psychological change of Derek Vinyard -- after spending his time in jail, he realizes that life is too short to be pissed off, and nothing that he's done (white supremicy-wise) has made his life better and hating is not the way to a better life. He's also trying to teach this lesson to Daniel Vinyard because he is afraid that his younger brother will fall in the same ill-fated footsteps. It also shows the emotional pain that his family must go through because he has to face the concequences of hate.
The bottom line of this movie is simple -- hate does not lead to a better life, and, quoted from the movie, "life's too short to be pissed off."
My rating: ****/****