Some melodramatically emotional punches are thrown, but it’s necessary when trying to cover the slow, personal, lifetime-long induction of racism in only two hours. American History X (AHX) may not get into much past the surface, but it takes the alternate route of looking at that surface in its entirety. Instead of exposing racism by empathizing with its victims, AHX takes a rare look at a subculture neglected from public repulsion to put a fresh perspective on well-established sentiments and reach out.