Unrealistic and contrived

Rating: Null/10 (5 February 1999)

I didn't like the ending. For that matter, the whole thing seemed too pat and contrived -- the characters were like puppets (to be sure, the type ending I would have preferred would have served only to exacerbate this). This has the unfortunate effect of rendering the whole overly (and overtly) preachy. Tony Kaye and David McKenna obviously have something to say here, and they say it, but not all that convincingly. I can't see viewers applying this to their own lives, as I suspect was the intent.
I also didn't find the people believable. I don't think actual humans would behave like these characters, except possibly the skinheads, in aggregate. The individuals seem to be following some weird Hollywood psychology, as applicable to real life as Wile E. Coyote physics is. For instance, many people I know -- probably most -- would prefer to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven. I don't see prison as altering this. People I know express anger somewhat differently than the characters in American History X. And so on, and so on.
All in all, I agree with the message, but I can't say much for the presentation. 6.5 out of 10