American History X (1998)


Director: Tony Kaye

Writer: David McKenna

Stars: Edward Norton, Edward Furlong and Beverly D'Angelo

My Review:
            American History X is one the best films I have ever seen. I would rate it the 2nd best film of 1998 with only Roberto Benigini’s “Life is Beautiful above it of all the films that were released in that year. The film portrayed the life of Derek Vinyard, a racist and the leader of a gang of skinhead. Derek is arrested for murdering three men and is paroled after 3 years. Danny Vinyard, the younger brother of Derek is strongly influenced by his brother’s behavior. The life of Derek is brought to us through the words of Danny in his work called American History X.
            Edward Norton gave a great performance in the lead as Derek Vinyard. This performance fetched him an Oscar nomination for the Best Actor in the lead role. In this Oscar race, he was beaten by Roberto Benigini. I would rate this performance as the second best performance of the five that were nominated and the best was eventually crowned.  The role of Danny Vinyard was portrayed by Edward Furlong, who played the famous role of John Connor in The Terminator series. Furlong was the best pick for that role. The debutant director Tony Kaye directed only this feature film so far in his career apart from a number of documentaries. I personally believe the movie lovers have missed Tony Kaye for the past 12 years.

My Review: 8.8/10

No comments: