MPAA Rated – R
It’s 1:59 Long
A Review by:
– The Dude on the Right
| American History X Movie Stats & Links |
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| Starring: | Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Fairuza Balk, Stacy Keach, Elliott Gould, Avery Brooks, Beverly D’Angelo |
| MPAA Rated: | R |
| Released By: | New Line Cinema |
| Kiddie Movie: | No way in hell, but older teens might learn something. |
| Date Movie: | Bring ’em along. |
| Gratuitous Sex: | Sex, and rape. |
| Gratuitous Violence: | It’s about racial hatred, what do you think? |
| Action: | More violence than anything action. |
| Laughs: | A couple of lines. |
| Memorable Scene: | Most of the movie, but a couple of scenes that stand out are when Derek kills the one black guy – it’s one of those scenes where you know what is going to happen, kinda hope they don’t show it, then cringe as they do, the scene in the prison shower (what do think happens), and the ending scenes in the high school bathroom. |
| Memorable Quote: | Most of the movie. |
| Directed By: | Tony Kaye |
I left “American History X” just thinking one thing – “Whoa.” Sometimes a movie does that to you.
“American History X” is a story about a lot of things. It’s a story about racism. It’s a story about family. It’s a story about crime. It’s about a scary side of life today hitting on questions of which there really aren’t easy answers, and whichever side of the line you tend to fall on, there is someone just as defiant on the other side.
Edward Norton plays Derek, a skinhead, Nazi type who develops a hatred for blacks, Hispanics, and well, you get the idea. His brother, Danny, as well as the Nazi community he has helped develop, admire him. He is a person of action, he is a person of rhetoric, and he has that look of a leader. The movement is growing, mostly because of the foundation that Derek helped lay, but Derek has another problem, he ends up in jail for murder. This further makes him a hero, but what the skinheads don’t know, and especially his brother, is what happened to Derek in jail.
Danny is headed down the same path as Derek, but hasn’t learned some crucial lessons, and when Derek gets free from the pokey, he wants his brother out of the skinheads, he wants his family to be a family again, and he wants his life to be his own.
That’s the easy way to tell the story, I guess, because this movie works hard in its two hour time to develop how racial hatred is born, how it grows, and how it can be realized that sometimes those you hate are the ones you need the most, while the ones who you supposedly understand and trust will stab you in the back. Derek learns all of these lessons, while Danny learns, just a little to late.
I won’t go into this movie anymore, just say it’s one hell of an emotional movie. The brutality of prison life comes through, the brutality of hatred comes through, and Edward Norton gives one hell of a performance.
With that said, and probably not much of it making sense, because I think to do so this review would turn into a book report, I just have to say I recommend the film. 4 ½ Stars out of 5.
That’s it for this one, I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!