The hidden gem of 1998

Rating: Null/10 (15 June 1999)

It's a shame that this movie was released in only a few theaters. "American History X" is an extraordinary movie! It's a story that was told in such a remarkable way. The performances of the cast make what could've been merely a good movie into an excellent one. The two Edwards (Norton & Furlong) are awesome in their performances. Furlong has the potential to become a great actor--I hope he chooses his film roles wisely in the future. But it is mainly Norton who makes this movie so great. He displays his phenomenal talent. He has proven that he already is a great actor. His performance in this movie is, hands down, his best performance! And his look in this film is quite a change from his usual preppy-ish look in other films. Besides the two leads, the supporting cast is really good. Stacy Keach gives a great performance (and is unrecognizable with the way he looks in this film), and Fairuza Balk is, as always, wonderful to watch in another bad-girl role. As far as the film itself, I liked the use of both black-and-white and color in this film. It goes well with the plot. In spite of the controversy surrounding the director of this film, I think that the director did a very good job with this film. This film turned out to be much better than what I had expected. One of my top 5 films of 1998, and one of the best films I have ever seen.