American History X
1998
Stars: Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Beverly D'Angelo, Avery Brooks, Stacy Keach, Fairuza Balk, Jennifer Lien, Ethan Suplee.
Plot: Derek Vinyard(Edward Norton) has just been released from prison. He was charged with brutally murdering a black man in front of his house. When Derek went into the prison, he was a leader of a strong neo-nazi group. But while in prison, he changed and came out with different beliefs. When he returns home, he finds out that his younger brother Danny(Edward Furlong) got in trouble in school for writing a paper about Mein Kampf. His black principal Mr.Sweeny(Avery Brooks) is of course very upset and wants Derek to show his younger brother a lesson in history and Danny must write another paper. Derek's mother Doris is played by Beverly D'Angelo while his younger sister Davina is played by Jennifer Lien. Before Derek went to prison he had a girlfriend Stacy(Fairuza Balk) who also supported his hate towards groups of people. He also had a best friend Seth(Ethan Suplee) who was his right hand man in the neo-nazi group. Derek's mentor and person he looks up to is Cameron(Stacy Keach) who is the main leader and boss of the neo-nazi group. When he meets up with them after he comes back from prison, he tells them that he doesn't want any part of the group anymore but they think of him as a traitor.
My Thoughts: One of the best movies of 1998 and one of my favorite movies ever, this is definately a powerful but great movie. Though the director wanted his name removed from the credits because of the editing Norton had made, it still came out to be an awesome flick. When we see Derek force the black man to place his mouth on the curb and then he steps on his head crushing his neck, it's disturbing and is shown very graphically. There is also a nasty rape scene in prison where Derek is raped in the shower by some of the inmates. It's interesting how the flashbacks are shown in black and white because I think it symbolizes how Derek thought everything was either black or white. Edward Furlong does a great job playing the younger brother that just wants to follow his older brother's footsteps. He even turns against his own brother when he finds out that Derek doesn't want to be in the hate group anymore. There are many violent scenes in the movie but they're necessary to show how these groups act towards people that they hate. Even though I've only seen a few other movies with Norton (Primal Fear, People Vs. Larry Flynt, Rounders) I enjoy him in all of his roles because he gets into that character and you actually believe that he's the character that he's portraying. He earned a oscar nomination for this and Primal Fear, but lost both. I would highly recommend this film, but it is quiet disturbing, so be warned that if you don't like controversial or powerful flicks, don't rent this.
Rating:
