"American History X" has to be on my list of favorite five of all time. It is such an anti-hate picture, which details how a person who revels in that emotion can be brought to the light.

The picture follows Derek Vinyard, played by Edward Norton (Keeping the Faith) as he returns from three years in prison for involuntary manslaughter of a gangster trying to steal his truck. We later discover the charge should have been murder one. Vinyard is the leader of a dangerous neo-nazi band of youths in Long Beach, CA, fed by the miseducation of Cameron Alexander, a reclusive racist who .

After Derek is released from prison, he finds his little brother Danny is knee deep in the path of hatred his brother went down. Derek confronts Cameron, telling him to stay away from his brother, and before you know it, Derek beats the crap out of him, resulting in every skinhead in the area labeling him a "nigger-lover." Now he has to watch his back.

Danny, angered by his older brother's actions, makes him say why his views have changed. Derek explains how the only friend he had in prison, who kept him from getting killed by criminals and murders who identified him, was an African American fellow working in the laundry room with Derek. This quickly changed Derek's perspective of those with darker complexions.

In addition, Derek got to see first hand the kind of hypocrisy the Arian inmates had, especially when they assault him in the shower; tough scene to watch, but highly inevitable.

The picture shows in detail how Derek became the racist he was and precisely how he was broken from it. The picture of course ends in tragedy. Its independent for crying out loud.

"American History X" is hands down Norton's best performance of his career, which that year nabbed him his second Academy Award® nomination.

Danny is played by Edward Furlong (Detroit Rock City), who seemed to fall off the map, but has several roles being released throughout the year. Most are on video. His take on Danny had just the right amount of youthful confusion.

Also making an appearance as Cameron is Stacey Keach (TV's Mike Hammer); slimy, slimy, slimy and very fitting. Avery Brooks (TV's Deep Space Nine) is also a solid presence as Derek's mentor and Danny's school principal Dr. Bob Sweeney. However, his no-nonsense demeanor makes his performance come off as too stiff in my opinion. It doesn't hurt the film though.

Both the positions of the screenwriter and director were left to first timers. Dave McKenna, who later wrote the screenplays for "Blow" and "S.W.A.T.," wrote this original script, while Tony Kaye directed the picture. His only other director credit after "X" was "Snowblind" in 2002. That leaves me speechless. The pacing on this picture was perfect. There was just enough information shown at the right times, and just enough agony in the scenes which needed it.

In addition, Kaye decided to use color stock for sequences after Derek is released from prison, while his days as a racist are shot in black and white; that was Derek's world at the time. You were either black or white; awesome and deserving of acclaim.

McKenna's script is also solid, mostly because of the arguments it makes even from the view of the neo-nazi's. There ARE border problems and immigration problems with our country. The media DOES tend to show victims of police abuse, like the Rodney King event, in a wrongfully deserved heroic light. However, the manner in which one responds to these moments is what makes a person human. In Derek's case, his response was with violence and hatred. In the end, Derek realizes hatred only breeds more hatred and kills not only people around you, but oneself. This is a truly special picture for me.

There are a handful of interesting deleted scenes on the DVD, deserving of being ousted. The picture in hand is perfect; one of the most perfect movies I've ever had the privilege of seeing.

Benn - Where's the Humanity?