 |
| STAR RATINGS EXPLAINED |
| Unmissable |
|
| Excellent |
|
| Good |
|
| Poor |
|
| Tragic |
|
|
| FILM DETAILS | Certificate
15 | | Cast
Ryan Gosling
Summer Phoenix
Billy Zane
Theresa Russell. | | Directors
Henry Bean. | | Screenwriters
Henry Bean
Mark Jacobson. | | Running Time
99 minutes |
|
|
|
The Believer
A morally confused young Jewish man becomes a neo-Nazi in his rejection of his culture and heritage.
Plot
Danny is a young Jewish man in New York whose rejection of his heritage has gone so far that he's now an active neo-Nazi.
Review
Like a firework spewing out sparks, this film sends incendiary ideas in every direction, but doesn't quite manage to contain them to become an effectively explosive force.
In a breakthrough performance, Ryan Gosling plays Danny, a young Jewish man whose rejection of his heritage has gone so far that heÆs now an active neo-Nazi. His philosophy is to hate for hate's sake, even when advised to back down by a shady right-wing political group for whom anti-Semitism is a redundant notion.
Danny is a disturbingly seductive figure because, while we're repelled by his beliefs and physical violence, we're impressed by his intellectual strengths. As theoretical as American History X was visceral, The Believer - essentially the study of a Jewish Nazi - builds on the clash of opposites at its core.
Verdict
Gosling delivers writer-director Henry Bean's complex speeches with real force, bulling through confrontations with box-clever arguments.
Reviewed by Alan Morrison
Write Your Review
To write your review please login or register.
Average user rating for The Believer
 |
|
|
|
|
