Edward Norton

is God.

Man I've seen this guy from Primal Fear through Larry Flint through Italian Job through Fight Club.

Today I watched him in American History X. There's some serious talent in this guy. There is this one scene in AHX where he surrenders to the cops while looking back at his kid brother, and boy Norton nails the whole scene with just the look in his eyes. Acting-wise, this guy ranks right up there with Nicholson and Hanks. Plus, for this role in AHX, he prepped up as well.

I'm just surprised that he didn't win an Oscar. Lemme check out who did......

.....ah! Lost out to Roberto Benigni for Life is Beautiful in 1999. Hmm, tough one that....

But I digress. This movie is as much about WAR as much it is about Edward Norton. The story involves Derek Vinyard(Norton)'s travails with a neo-nazi gang in LA. There isn't much to the story; its pretty plain vanilla. However, the screenplay, the acting and the background score infuse life into this piece of cinema.

Maybe I got too carried away with Norton's portrayal because I watched this movie right after seeing a Nat Geo feature on MS-13 followed by Obama's 'A More Perfect Union' (Tube here). But for the most part, Tony Kaye has shown it as it is. The only let down was the rather rapid or more like the sudden turn of events that lead Vinyard into a reformist life (pardon the spoiler). At 119 mins, I guess Kaye still had about 10-15 mins of screen time to devote Vinyard's transformation. I read somewhere that is was a true story, but heck it still took THREE years to unfold. 10 minutes of screentime does not capture the intricacies that the audience is expected to understand. It just comes off as a load of moral yada.

Other than that, this is a good movie. Avery Brooks (as Dr. Sweeney) is solid, but could have got more time. Edward Furlong as Derek's younger brother has done a good job (no matter what he does, he can't escape being John Connor). Technically the film is average, but the acting is first class.

Good watch.