1996 saw him take his troubled teen image a step further as accused murderer Jacob Ryan in "Before and After", his haunting work giving Barbet Schroeder's alternately praised and panned film an added note of credibility. Furlong's reserved performance, incorporating an almost ethereal quality that made the character himself a mystery, gave so little away that the issue of whether or not the boy committed the crime seemed an entirely plausible question, even for his parents (Meryl Streep and Liam Neeson). Furlong took his first stab at comedy in John Waters' 1998 effort "Pecker". As the title character, an enthusiastic amateur photographer from Baltimore discovered and thrust into the New York City spotlight, Furlong portrayed what could be described as a sunny character for the first time. Brimming with a good-natured innocence and lightness absent from his earlier work, the role showed the actor's capabilities and Waters succeeded in eliciting from him a sweetly comedic performance, although the film itself wasn't held in such esteem as the director's previous jolting films. Later that year Furlong acted as the younger brother of Edward Norton's redeemed neo-Nazi character in the controversy-plagued "American History X". While the problems surrounding the production threatened to overshadow the film, the performances stood strong, and Furlong's was no exception. As the easily led Danny, the focal point of the narrative, he again deftly handled the complex emotions of a conflicted young character. Next up for Furlong was a very different role as one of a group of friends on a quest to attend a sold out KISS concert in the 70s-era teen comedy "Detroit Rock City" (1999).