Review of American History X (1998) by Luke P — 16 Nov 2012

THE movie about racism. This is about a former neo-nazi (Edward Norton), who gets out of prison and tries to get his younger brother who idolized his former way of life back on the right track. For me, this is the be all and end all movie about racism.

You can keep The Help, you can keep Crash, just leave me American History X. The thing you notice right away is just how in your face it is about the subject matter; it doesn't tip-toe around it, because these are loud, opinionated people and there are extreme close-ups on their faces to punctuate their warped views.

You have a tight script that is incredibly engaging, and it is full of discussions and arguments that wrap you in each and every scene. You also have a powerhouse performance given by Norton; before he really blew up with Fight Club, he was already starting to turn heads with this redemption story.

Everything about this is eye opening, you can really believe the character arcs, and the message of how pointless racism is should hit home with everyone.