American
History X
DOWN &
DIRTY:
Drama: A former skin head tries
to prevent his younger brother
from following him down the same
path of hatred and violence.
NITTY GRITTY:
Danny Vinyard (EDWARD FURLONG) is
a troubled kid whose recent paper
on Hitler's "Mein
Kampf" has landed him in the
office of Principal Bob Sweeney
(AVERY BROOKS).
Sweeney is concerned because he
has seen this fascination with
radical racial ideologies before,
in Danny's older brother, Derek
(EDWARD NORTON). Derek has been
serving time in prison for
killing two black men who were
trying to steal his truck.
Knowing that Derek is about to be
released, Sweeney gives Danny a
new assignment: write about his
brother's past problems and
recent change of heart.
Upon his release, Derek is a new
man. No longer full of racial
anger and hate, he's concerned
when he sees that Danny has
become a skin head under the
guidance of his former mentor,
Cameron Alexander (STACY KEACH),
a middle-aged white supremacist.
As Danny writes his story, there
are flashbacks of the events that
lead up to Derek's transformation
from a brilliant student to the
poster boy for racial hatred.
As Derek tries to set Danny
straight, his changed beliefs
anger his former girlfriend,
Stacey (FAIRUZA BALK), and
Cameron and the other skin heads.
Derek hits Cameron in the face
and tells him to stay away from
Danny.
THE ENDING:
Derek takes Danny to school and
then goes looking for a job.
Danny goes in to use the restroom
and another student, who he had
an altercation with earlier,
pulls a gun and shoots Danny.
Derek hears about the shooting
and rushes to the school. He
finds Danny and holds him dead in
his arms, crying.
WHAT EVERYONE WILL BE
TALKING ABOUT:
The performance of Edward Norton.
One of these days he's gonna
finally take home the little
golden guy.
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