"American History X" is a movie about racism, and anyone who knows me(or read my review of Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing") knows how I feel about movies that try to seem intellectual and edgy by covering racism. This movie, however, covers it in the sense of a family trying to stop it, and to top everything on it's a white family.
So how do you take a movie about an older brother who goes to jail as a Neo-Nazi jerk who kills two people in his fornt yard(and commits other crimes as seen in flashbacks) and make it touching and profound? Add in a little brother who's following in his footsteps.
The plot may come across as a little thin(yeah, we get it, people are racist), but this doesn't bother me so much with this film because it shows the other side of things, it shows the reasoning that these people have for being the way they are(and promptly shows how twisted and vile it is). But it also focuses less on a "White people are all racist pigs" aspect and more on a "Ideals can be easy to corrupt" view. By showing the leader of the Neo-Nazi group as a man who uses the kids to his own sick agenda, you get an idea of the fact that these kids aren't really bad.....just misguided fools following the words of a psychopath.
The cinimatography in the film lends to a simple, yet compelling, idea. Using both color and black and white shots(color for current, black and white for the past) adds a new aspect. In a film about racism and the devides of skin color and ideas, the black and white shows how everything is really shaded in gray. It's a neat touch, and I like it.
The only things I dislike about this movie are the somewhat thin plot, the idea that Derek has become some informant for the cops and not explaining it, and the ending.
So unless you're a member of the KKK, or a Neo-Nazi, or just some closed minded dolt then you should see, and enjoy, this film. It gives a new look at racism, but keeps the pont there in the end.