Review of American History X (1998) by Mustisthecat — 21 Aug 2011
A good movie that had been better if not the forced, yet sometimes confusing message. Maybe if I watched it back in 1998 , I would appreciate it more, but its position in any kind of film rankings is misleading.
The only thing I couldn`t forget was Edward Norton`s exceptional performance, and not only because others played roughly average roles. The story tries hard to establish the characters and the origin of racism but succeeds only in part.
The viewer doesn`t get a full explanation, only bits of information that want him to think clearly : this is good, this is bad. We see a bunch of people changing their ways but we do not get the reasoning behind it.
The main conclusion is not very clear and doesn`t find a strong material to it in the movie. The result is : you get the message this movie wants you to get, but mostly because it is literally given to you at the very end of it.
You do not really understand why this particular message, because the story suggests something different. An excellent idea executed poorly with a bit of a genius play.
This review of American History X (1998) was written by Mustisthecat on 21 Aug 2011.
American History X has generally received very positive reviews.
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