FILM: American History X

American History X is a flawed film. Its goals seem at times murky, the characterization borders on two-dimensional, the dialog is choppy, the cinematography is predictable and the plot development is contrived. That being said, director Tony Kaye has given us a profoundly compelling movie that invites us as viewers to think and question.

The story centers on two brothers, Danny (Edward Furlong) and Derek Vineyard (Edward Norton). The brothers' father is murdered, which plunges Derek down a violent spiral of racial hate as he blames everyone from the blacks to the gays for his father's death. He begins to associate with the neo-Nazi groups around Venice Beach and is adopted by a sinister man named Cameron (a menacing Stacy Keach). Cameron works behind the scenes to promote Derek as a hate-group leader, and soon the former honors student is prancing around triumphantly with a swastika painted on his chest.

One fateful night, Danny discovers that his brother's car is being broken into outside. He runs into Derek's room and announces, "Some black guys are breaking into your car!" And the rest is history, or rather, American History X. Derek shoots the black men and is incarcerated. He immediately allies himself with the neo-Nazis in jail, but it is a black man who eventually saves his life. As a result, Derek realizes the error of his ways and, with help from his high school principal, Sweeney (Avery Brooks), gets paroled.

Meanwhile, Danny is following in his brother's footsteps. Handing in a paper to his teacher titled "My Mein Kampf" wins him an interview with the ubiquitous Sweeney, who in turn warns Derek. The remainder of the movie deals with Derek's attempts to disassociate himself from his old ways and beliefs and his fervent attempt to keep Danny away from Cameron's influence.

Mistakes abound in the film: For instance, towards the end, after Derek seems to have converted Danny away from the Dark Side, we are given an 'uplifting' scene in which Danny kisses his girlfriend: all fine and good, until we remember that she is still a neo-Nazi. But the movie almost seems to thrive on its weaknesses: the cheesiness and the slipshod nature of the narrative focus our attention on the message at stake, and that is Kaye's intention. He wants us to understand that racism-on the most latent and obvious levels, in its most rhetorically advanced and trite forms-is a parasite, but even the worst offenders can grasp for redemption. American History X fails on certain levels, but is ultimately a powerful and successful movie.