Review of American History X (1998) by Shannon W — 11 Jul 2012

American History X is one of the cult classic films that deals with racisms in America. What makes this movie stand out is that it targets on the issues on every race, unlike most Spike Lee's films, where they identify whites as arrogant and blacks as victims. Here, it shows that every race have their rights and wrongs, and it pulled it off very well.

The story follows a Teen Danny Vinyard (Edward Furlong) who tells a story of his older brother Derek (Edward Norton), after the insident where he shot three black guys, who were stealing his vehicle. By doing that, he must write an essay about it, and how it affected his life. As he writes his essay, there are flashbacks that shows the events before he went to jail. Most of them deals with the hatred Derek had against blacks and illegal immigrantion. After his 3 years of prison, Derek leaves his neo-NAZI behind so he can set a better example for his life, and his family.

The story was absolutely brilliant. Some people might find it racist, but I thought it was real. I don't find this racist at all because all it shows is the racisms that's happening all over the america, and how every race backlash other race because of their personal experience, like from Derek Vinyard. Too bad Spike Lee's movies are not like that. The story had a good premise and memorable characters with a thoughtout script.

The performances from each of the cast members are at works here. Edward Norton did an outstanding job with his character, and I think he's underrated. I like him as an actor, and I think he's one of the best actors ever. He deserved an Oscar for this movie big time. I don't know if I've seen Edward Furlong in a movie, but I thought he did pretty good. Just about everybody else played their characters pretty well.

American History X is an extrodinary movie that doesn't try to be preachy. It had a great story dealing with racisms in America. There's a lot from this film that gets people to think for moment about cultures and everyday people. This movie might look racist, but it isn't. If you just pay attention to every details that goes on in the story from beginning to end, then there's no problem at all. It's vulgar and intense, which makes it bad for kids to see, but it's still a heavily masterpiece. This is one of Edward Norton's best films ever made since Fight Club, which I thought was great. If you want a perfectly made film, this here is for you.