mdtinney's Movie Review of American History X

Powerful and gripping film that stays intense!
mdtinney - wrote on 09/06/09

Probably one of the most powerful films I have ever seen, with a subject matter that is so delicate and easily could have been mishandled – this film delivers a performance of a lifetime from Edward Norton and a superb story shaping the influences around him.
The film is told in two tales; one in black and white, conveying the wrongful doings of Derek Vinyard (Norton) and about how his racial crusades slowly infiltrate the mind of his little brother. After a brutal racially motivated murder of three individuals for breaking into his car, Derek is sent to jail where he soon learns the errors of his ways and comes to realise the pain and suffering he has caused.
The second story told in color, runs parallel to that of the past of Derek. This story focuses more on Danny Vinyard, and about the effect his brother has on him. After handing in a paper on Mein Kampf, the school's headmaster orders Danny to write a paper about his brother. This is where we hear the vocal expressions of the effects that he has had on him through a well delivered voice-over. On the same day when Danny is reunited with his brother, Danny sets about trying to impress his brother by taking up where he left off – the tattoos, the haircut, the attitude – aspiring to him.
But as Derek's story develops from his time in prison, you begin to realise that he cannot let his brother take the same path as he did. He disowns all his friends and connections in the neo-Nazi party in a ditch attempt to save his brother from a similar life of destruction and mayhem.
The relationship between the two brothers is what drives the plot of the film; the acting between them is impeccable and emotionally driven. As Danny finally realises what his brother is trying to teach him, he is shot by a gang member that he encountered before his brother showed him the right path. Derek holding his dead brother in his arms is the greatest lesson of all. Norton conveys with such passion, the pain, the guilt and true regret the character is feeling –his brother's death was his entire fault.
Without a doubt one of the most powerful films you will see, and I can't help but feel that under all this there is a powerful message that mankind is twisted and troubled in today's society over such petty issues as race and equality which could so easily be dealt with by the governments in place.