`HISTORY X' POTENT YET DISTURBING.

Byline: Bob Strauss Daily News Film Critic

Maddening.

That's what ``American History X'' strives to be, and that's what it is. But not entirely in the way that was intended.

Undeniably powerful and upsetting, with insightful glimpses of a troubled family that make for blessedly tender relief from the mortal storm swirling around them, the movie nonetheless fails to convincingly dramatize key character points. More troubling, while the film is clearly out to criticize racism, it comes uncomfortably close to glamorizing it.

Those glaring flaws acknowledged, the last thing you can call ``X'' is unmoving. It provokes, angers and outrages by form, content and even by its behind-the-scenes Hollywood controversy (director Tony Kaye wanted his credit removed from a film that, by any standard, is an impressive first feature effort).

Written by David McKenna, a 28-year-old white guy from Orange County, the movie focuses on two young, neo-Nazi brothers from the Venice section of L.A. The eldest, Derek Vinyard, is played mostly bare-chested by a beefed-up Edward Norton, with shaved head and a giant swastika tattooed over his heart. The younger, high school underclassman Danny (Edward Furlong), worships the passionate, articulate Derek.

Derek has been in prison for killing two African-American men who tried to steal his car. That's made him even more of a local legend than his virulent rhetoric did. But the Derek that's paroled is a changed, loving man, concerned with helping his sickly, widowed mother (Beverly D'Angelo) raise her younger children and diverting Danny from the self-destructive path of rage.

Of course, Derek's unforgiving ex-comrades view his new pacifism as betrayal. And the friends of the men he killed are still around, too.

Employing lots of hand-held camerawork and improvisational staging, Kaye draws us into a world of constant tension and immediate, ugly emotion.

There are horrendous suites of violence - the initial murders, a raid on an Asian-owned, Latino-staffed grocery, a prison rape - most of which are preceded by one of Derek's disgusting yet mesmerizing hate speeches. Norton's performance of these difficult bits is chillingly impeccable, but that also contributes greatly to the sense that someone is getting off a bit too much on what the film is supposed to be criticizing. After a couple of these things, we get the point, but the film keeps returning us to that poison well. By comparison, Derek's change of heart comes off preachy and pat.

The lovely interaction within the crowded, modern-day Vinyard home is what really humanizes these apparently hateful individuals. But even that leaves you asking why only two of the film's African-American characters are permitted anything resembling positive traits (and one of them is an incarcerated felon), and why there is nothing about the home life of any person of color.

``American History X'' is a shattering experience and, in many ways, a brave film. It confronts the ugliness of racism in a crude, visceral manner that is far more affecting than the traditional, polite liberal approach that Hollywood condescendingly employs most of the time (``Ghosts of Mississippi'' and ``A Time to Kill'' being recent examples).

But it still sees the issue as a tragedy for white people first, all of us second.

THE FACTS

The film: ``American History X'' (R; racism, violence, sex, language, nudity, drug use, children in jeopardy).

The stars: Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Beverly D'Angelo, Avery Brooks, Stacy Keach, Fairuza Balk.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Tony Kaye. Written by David McKenna. Produced by John Morrissey. Released by New Line Cinema.

Running time: One hour, 58 minutes.

Playing: Century Plaza, Century City; Beverly Center Cineplex, West Hollywood; AMC 7, Santa Monica.

Our rating: Three stars.