Review of American History X (1998) by Jacob G — 09 Sep 2014
Despite some good performances, American History X tries to do way too much. As a 2 hour movie there can only be so much that happens without really glossing over everything.
And for a movie like American History X, where there are not just one but TWO major conversions that take place where characters endure major opinion shifts, proper time needs to be spent in the movie to make those conversions believable.
AHX doesn't do this. Instead in sacrifices believability for more background. Perhaps that is a fair tradeoff if the intention is to show how bad the neo-nazi/white power movement is. Viewed that way it doesn't matter so much how the two protagonist's conversions came about. But in that case, why so much time building the characters themselves?
Kaye's direction tries to straddle both angles, and in the process makes neither of them entirely satisfying.
This review of American History X (1998) was written by Jacob G on 09 Sep 2014.
American History X has generally received very positive reviews.
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