‘Guys like this only have three options: die young, life in prison, or, they start talking...’
Sometimes, a film can be so successful and so damn good that you never have to make a film about that thing again. There is no point making another prison break movie after The Shawshank Redemption. There is no point making another holocaust movie after Schindler’s List. And similarly, there is no point making another racist man finds redemption movie after American History X. Tony Kaye’s incendiary race related fairy tale features one of the all time great performances from Ed Norton which culminates in a film that is one of the best of the decade. While you should always review a film for what it is rather than what it isn’t, American History X looms large over Skin…
Byron Widner (Jamie Bell) is a reformed racist who is struggling to leave his past behind. Not least because his entire face and body are covered in racist tattoos. With the help of his wife Julie (Danielle Macdonald), Byron attempts to break away from his controlling mother (Vera Farmiga) and the evil man (Bill Camp) who radicalised him in the first place. Camp is in everything by the way. Look him up. I can guarantee he’s been in your living room in the past month. Not literally. But on your TV screen at least.
Adapted from the Oscar winning short film of the same name, Skin struggles to capture and maintain the visceral menace of the source material, despite a committed and convincing performance from Bell in the leading role. Macdonald is also quietly excellent as his muse and Camp, the man I can’t escape, is surprisingly menacing as the big bad.
Based on a true story, there is no doubting that Skin contains numerous poignant and prescient moments, but considering the lofty subject matter, Guy Nattiv’s film doesn’t quite hit as hard as it should.