American History X (1998)
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American History X Movie Review
American History X is a 1998 crime drama film directed by Tony Kaye and starring Edward Norton and Edward Furlong. It’s a very good film that never becomes great.
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“Has anything you’ve done made your life better?“
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It follows a former neo-Nazi follower who after going to prison changes entirely and tries to prevent his younger brother from following the same dangerous path. I found the plot excellent. Not only does the film explore some tough issues, but it’s also phenomenal in presenting brotherly love, the importance of a good influence on children and particularly how anyone, even the most horrible people, can change eventually.
It’s a very good story very well told in a solid employment of non-linear storytelling. It holds your attention and is continually dramatic and an important watch. However, it’s not great owing to a couple of problems. One is the film’s lack of more sophisticated dialogue and smart themes. It never has a lot to say unfortunately and is overly simplistic for such a complex subject matter. Another problem is the ending which is moving, but it was obviously set up and I personally did not like it as it felt forced to me. A happy ending would have been better in this instance.
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Let’s talk about Edward Norton. I’ve had a major problem following his character and his performance. I find it overrated and definitely not deserving of an Oscar nomination. Personally, I find him to be a good actor and he is good here, but he’s just never believable at all as a neo-Nazi skinhead and no matter how much he and the script tried to make him tough, I just did not buy it, ever. But, in the second half when the character changes, he becomes more suited for the role and he definitely did give a strong performance, especially in those moving emotional sequences. I really liked him in the second half, but I found him weak in the first half.
Edward Furlong is pretty good in his role. And I found his portrayal very strong and the character is quite realistic. The brotherly relationship is the heart of the film for sure. But I also loved the two black male characters. Dr. Bob Sweeney is so great, but I found Lamont simply wonderful. He’s such a fun, great guy and the friendship that develops between the two is honestly the highlight of the entire film for me. Those conversations were funny, subtle, very effective and simply a joy. I wanted more of those and overall prison sequences for sure.
American History X is violent at times, but never as violent as I expected to be so it was a pleasant surprise for me. Only the necessary violence was portrayed and those scenes were really well done. The dramatic sequences are also good, but again the dialogues needed to have been stronger and more sophisticated. The protagonist’s change in prison is mostly well portrayed, but his previous path to hatred was obviously rushed.
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I found the pacing of the movie pretty solid as well as the score. And the cinematography is excellent. I really liked the switch from color to black-and-white photography and both worked very well. But the direction should have been better and a more professional director would have made a difference definitely.
American History X is at its best when it’s following the protagonist’s change in those highly effective prison sequences with his friendship with a black man being the highlight. It’s also terrific in its brotherly relationship, important in its story and very well paced and shot throughout. But Edward Norton was never believable to me as a neo-Nazi skinhead. He becomes better and very good in the second half, but in the first half he evidently struggled. The film is also never as sophisticated in its dialogue as the script demanded leading to a very good film that unfortunately never reaches greatness.
