Saints and angels + cardboard villains = lost opportunity

Rating: Null/10 (12 July 1999)

"American History X" reminds me of the old Tom Lehrer song: "We are the folksong army, every one of us CARES, we all fight against social injustice, unlike the rest of you SQUARES." The people who see the film will walk out, if they are moved by it, fortified in their personal convictions that there are bad ways of thinking out there that need to be changed for the good of all, and then go back home to their self-satisfied lives. The main character has been made a tortured saint sanctified by his pure if confused mind, unflinching honesty, and brave heart. He is gently brought to the true path by two african-american angels, who have no lives of their own aside from their overwhelming desire to reach out and improve his life. They know the real score, inside and out, no question about their legitimacy. On the other side you have the african-american version of Daniel eager to win the approval of his peers, and the uniformly ugly and fraudulent skinhead opposition.
The real tragedy of this movie with cardboard villains, for me at least, was that most of the acting was first-rate and the scenes were beautifully filmed. The two Edwards brought tremendous depth to their performances. The violence was close in and personal, focusing your attention on the cost of hating. When the film focused on the family conversations/fights and Daniel's final paper, it felt honest and real. There have been several films recently, "Men With Guns" and "Savior" among others, that have similar messages without scripting a solution. Why did the film have to distill xenophobia and hatred down to a choice between enlightenment and ignorance when it has never been that simply resolved?