American History X
Release Date: October 30, 1998 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
21
Mixed:
8
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago TribuneGene Siskel
A shockingly powerful screed against racism that also manages to be so well performed and directed that it is entertaining as well. [30 October 1998, Friday, p.A]
91
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Feels as true as a documentary, as painful as a blow to the heart.
90
TNT RoughCutChristopher Brandon
What makes this film so powerful is that its unanswered questions force the audience to examine hate and its consequences making American History X one lesson you can't miss.
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
This is the sort of incendiary role a lot of actors would kill for, yet the shock of Norton's performance isn't its showboat flamboyance. It's that he makes this sadistic junior sociopath rueful and intelligent. Read full review
80
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Jolting, superbly acted film. Read full review
80
Film.comGemma Files
A true achievement -- no matter who eventually wants to take, or deny, credit for its creation.
80
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
An inflated yet gut-slugging film. Read full review
80
Film.comNorman Green
Despite a cheap, Hollywood ending and despite Kaye's kooky campaign, X is a killer.
80
Mr. ShowbizKevin Maynard
American History X is a crash course on how to make a message movie that resonates with crackling power.
75
USA TodayMike Clark
While this movie is sometimes overbaked, it is the first major studio release in a while to engross wall-to-wall. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
May be flawed, but it's not easily forgotten. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Unflinching in its depiction of racism, anti-Semitism, violence and jailhouse politics. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
A series of well-drawn sketches and powerful scenes, in search of an organizing principle. Read full review
75
San Francisco ExaminerCraig Marine
Such an ambitious, well-acted film that it's easy to overlook its flaws as relatively minor. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
The movie can't explain as much as it wants to about what makes (and unmakes) a skinhead, but it carries us a fair distance. Read full review
70
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Trenchant and visceral, American History X may not be perfect, but it's a darn sight better than good. Read full review
70
Film.comJohn Hartl
Norton's performance, which is every bit as varied as his Oscar-nominated work in Primal Fear, once more demonstrates that he's one of the most remarkable chameleons working in film.
70
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
It's Norton who makes the film such an enlightening experience, and he's mesmerizing. Read full review
70
SlateDavid Edelstein
It's a testament to Norton's utter immersion in the role that he can even halfway connect the dots between this fundamentally sweet, brainy kid and the magnetic, white trash monster who'll haunt our minds long after the movie's liberal pieties fade into static. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
A violent, sober cautionary tale, strictly middle-of-the-road when it comes to its much-ballyhooed politics and grimly obvious in its telling. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Excellent in flashes, unintentionally absurd and lead-footed at other moments, the movie stumbles under the weight of its own grandiose intentions. Read full review
60
The A.V. ClubJoshua Klein
There may be much to like about his movie, but it's all been done before to more challenging degrees of moral ambiguity. That's a pretty fatal flaw. Read full review
60
TimeRichard Corliss
It's hard to know whom to blame for the film's choppiness, its mixture of rage and sentimentality, the stridency of some of the acting. Read full review
60
L.A. WeeklyManohla Dargis
Director Tony Kaye may be reaching for opera, but screenwriter David McKenna has set his sights distinctly lower. Read full review
60
NewsweekDavid Ansen
This material is charged enough without piling on the melodrama and the lip-smacking violence. The movie too often sacrifices reportage for razzle-dazzle. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
For all its surface verisimilitude and for all its focus on a problem that couldn't be more current, this film can't manage to feel more than sporadically real. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
As a visit to a world and a way of life most of us will never experience, American History X is vivid, and it feels honest. At the very least, it's not typical. Read full review
50
New York PostRod Dreher
The picture is smothered by solemn right-mindedness, and hobbled by scripter David McKenna's simplistic, knee-jerk liberal take on suburban white racism.
40
Dallas ObserverAndy Klein
Fails dramatically as well as ideologically. Read full review
25
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Norton's high-energy acting is the only element that saves the picture from being a total loss. Read full review
20
Village VoiceGary Dauphin
A mess of a film. Read full review
20
Washington PostStephen Hunter
A mousy little nothing of a picture. Read full review
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