Poster © New Line Cinema. Shown at reduced size for review and commentary.
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GenreCrime & Drama
RatedR
Runtime1 hr 59 mins
ReleasedNovember 20, 1998
StreamingSee Where to Watch
DirectorTony Kaye
StarringEdward Norton, Edward Furlong, Fairuza Balk
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American History X (1998)
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| TTMDB | +Add to Top 8 |
| American History X's Details | |
| Genre | Crime & Drama |
| Rated | R |
| Released | 11/20/1998 (United States) |
| Streaming | See Where to Watch on this page. |
| Running Time | 1 hr 59 mins |
| Budget | $20M (reported) |
| Box Office | Updated daily from Box Office Mojo. See the numbers below. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| American History X's Interests | |
| General | Brothers, family dinners, a school paper due tomorrow, and the hard work of changing your mind. |
| Music | Anne Dudley. A sweeping, serious score that never makes any of this look cool. |
| Movies | This Is England (2006). Another honest look at how young people get pulled in. |
| Television | Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Avery Brooks led that one as Captain Sisko in the same era. |
| Heroes | Dr. Bob Sweeney. The principal who will not give up on a kid. |
| American History X's Crew | |
| Director | Tony Kaye |
| Writers | David McKenna |
| Producers | John Morrissey |
| Cinematography | Tony Kaye |
| Music | Anne Dudley |
| Edited By | Gerald B. Greenberg, Alan Heim |
| Production | New Line Cinema, The Turman-Morrissey Company |
| Distributed By | New Line Cinema |
Here’s the uncomfortable part: the first half, where Derek is a hate group’s favorite speaker, is shot with more energy than the half where he changes. Tony Kaye frames the past in hard black and white, and Edward Norton is so convincing as a charismatic bigot that the film has to sprint to bring him back. The prison stretch that turns him around is powerful and also feels rushed, and Avery Brooks’s principal mostly just states the message. Edward Furlong’s Danny is the quiet center, a kid copying the worst role model available. When it lands, it lands hard. The family dinner flashback, where one argument shows exactly how hate gets handed down at a kitchen table, is still one of the most honest scenes in any 90s drama. Critics gave it a 62 on Metacritic, while 1,290,184 IMDb ratings average an 8.5. An 8.2 because Norton is unforgettable and the lesson is real, even when the script underlines it twice. $61 says the ride home after this one is a lot quieter than the ride there.
What works: Edward Norton’s performance and the family dinner flashback, which shows how hate spreads through an ordinary conversation.
What doesn’t: The turnaround in prison feels rushed, and some characters exist mainly to explain the message out loud.
Who it’s for: Older teens and adults ready for a hard, serious conversation about where hate comes from.
Spoilers
Derek walks away from the gang and pulls Danny out with him, but the next morning Danny is shot at school by a student he clashed with earlier. The film closes on Danny’s essay about how hate is a weight that isn’t worth carrying.
Danny Vinyard (Edward Furlong), a high schooler in Venice Beach, turns in a book report on Hitler's Mein Kampf. Principal Dr. Bob Sweeney (Avery Brooks) answers with a one-student class called American History X and a first assignment: write about your older brother. That brother is Derek (Edward Norton), who once led a local white supremacist gang and is just getting out after three years in prison. Danny expects his hero back. The man who walks through the door is not the one who left, and Danny wants to know why. Tony Kaye directs. One hundred nineteen minutes, the past in black and white, the present in color.
Anyone who has ever had to unlearn something they were raised on. Watch it with someone you can talk to after.
| Edward Norton | Derek Vinyard |
| Edward Furlong | Danny Vinyard |
| Beverly D'Angelo | Doris Vinyard |
| Jennifer Lien | Davina Vinyard |
| Ethan Suplee | Seth Ryan |
| Fairuza Balk | Stacey |
| Avery Brooks | Dr. Bob Sweeney |
| Elliott Gould | Murray |
| Stacy Keach | Cameron Alexander |
| William Russ | Dennis Vinyard |
| Guy Torry | Lamont |
| Joe Cortese | Rasmussen |
| Alex Sol | Mitch McCormick |
| Jason Bose Smith | Little Henry |
| Antonio David Lyons | Lawrence |
| Keram Malicki-Sánchez | Chris |
| Giuseppe Andrews | Jason |
| Christopher Masterson | Daryl Dawson |
| Paul Le Mat | McMahon |