A character extremely well constructed and a powerful and much need message against Neo-Nazism compensate for some of the story minor flaws

Rating: 9/10 (1 March 2013)

This movie has a good story, worth being told, well structured, believable. But the story is not what makes this a great movie.
What won the movie for me was Edward Norton's character Derek Vinyard. This movie could very easily made the mistake of showing him not as a character, but as a personification of mindless rage and hate, and even though the movie sometimes go out of his way to make it clear that his beliefs and attitudes are ultimately wrong (something very justifiable given the sensitive subject), they show us where all of this come from. They us what happened to a brilliant young man that made him into a monster, giving the character depth and making us feel the tragedy of his downfall into a skinhead.
The movie in a somewhat subtle way shows us that, despite the facts of his life influencing in his choice, the responsibility for his mistakes is his alone. This is made by his sister's character, who in spite of living in the same environment turned out to be a decent human being. This contrast of a character who is brutal, ruthless, and destructive to everyone around him but is not simply a diabolic Disney villain makes this a good movie.
Said that, the others characters work well, with highlights to Edward Furlong who plays very well Norton's brother.
Furthermore, the movie works well with the violence, making the audiences cringe with it, feel the suffering of the victims and leaving no doubt that the skinheads crosses completely any moral standart and should in no way be praised or idolized. Making the violence feel this real is somewhat difficult in an age where we are so used to it that if a movie kills less than half a planet we barely even notice.
The movie is not however perfect. Norton's time in prison takes a little from the movie's plausibility, since he would need to have the shortest of sights not to realize that his open confrontation of the other neo-Nazis would lead to his raping and almost to his death, and maybe his brother reform was a little rushed.
Where the story fails, the character construction and the powerful message as well as it magnificent use of visual resources redempts it. All in all, a must see. 8,5/10