Movie American History X Views

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American History X received mostly positive reviews and Norton's performance was critically acclaimed. Based on the reviews of 72 critics collected on Rotten Tomatoes, 83% of critics gave the film a positive review.[7] It grossed $6,719,864 from 513 theaters in the United States, and a total of $23,875,127 worldwide.[1]

Advertisements for the controversy magnet that is ''American History X'' seem to be selling Edward Norton's buff physique, savage scowl and swastika tattoo in equal measure. So they reflect the film's bold but reckless synthesis of visual enticement and rhetorical fever. Presented in the ersatz poetic idiom of videos and commercials, this is an inflated yet gut-slugging film that dares to address America's neo-Nazi culture with brutal candor. Its toughest images stick even when its lurid self-aggrandizing spins out of control.

Though its story elements are all too easily reduced to a simple outline, ''American History X'' has enough fiery acting and provocative bombast to make its impact felt. For one thing, its willingness to take on ugly political realities gives it a substantial raison d'etre. For another, it has been directed with a mixture of handsome photo-realism and visceral punch.

Certainly, someone has arranged the film's time frame portentously enough to add extra heft to its slender story. As written by David McKenna, ''American History X'' centers on a racist killing that Derek commits with horrifying gusto. It's the kind of film that milks this violence furiously and also tries to heat up this episode by watching Derek in a sexual tryst just before the violence occurs. Though Fairuza Balk plays his nose-ringed racist sweetie here, the rest of the film brims with the tacitly homoerotic energy of its skinhead bullies.