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Believer, The
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 28 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 12 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by:
Henry Bean
Mark Jacobson (story)
Directed by: Henry Bean
Release Date:
Theatrical: May 17, 2002
DVD: April 22, 2003
Running Time: 98 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for strong violence, language and some sexual content
Starring Ryan Gosling, Summer Phoenix, Glenn Fitzgerald, Garret Dillahunt, Kris Eivers, Joel Garland, Joshua Harto, and Tommy Nohilly
The story of Danny Balint, who transformed himself from Jewish religious student to a rising star in the Neo-Fascist political movement.
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Stunningly smart, genuinely disturbing film.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
A deep and extraordinary film that isn't afraid to look evil in the face -- or, for that matter, to acknowledge that evil can be more complicated and even attractive than we'd want to admit. It's very, very difficult to watch, but you shouldn't miss it.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Bean's commitment to serious theological examination is exciting, Gosling's performance is riveting, and this fiery and imperfect feature shines as a demonstration of independent filmmaking at its most uncompromising.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
What it's about is also what it requires for proper appreciation -- the ability of the human mind to hold, and even cherish, diametrically opposite thoughts.
Film Threat Ron Wells
I thought I might have seen everything I needed to see about neo-Nazi skinheads in "Romper Stomper" and "American History X". Not only was I in for a surprise, but newcomer Ryan Gosling gives every bit as stunning a performance as did Russell Crowe and Ed Norton in those two films, and then some.
Read Full Review >Slate David Edelstein
I confess I don't fully understand Danny's (or the movie's) zigs and zags, but I was glued to the thing anyway -- it has an inexplicable inner logic -- and I admire Bean for refusing to settle into any easy groove.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
One of the year's most thought-provoking, hard-hitting films, gutsily opening up a subject rarely done with this kind of all-out chutzpah.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Manohla Dargis
After its electric opening -- one of the few occasions where Bean advances his case cinematically, showing rather than just telling -- the film rapidly assumes the shape of a 100-minute debate, as Danny argues against the Jews and, in the same breath, for them.
Read Full Review >New Times (L.A.) Bill Gallo
There are a couple of technical rough spots, but this daring film challenges most widely held notions about religious conviction while providing a complex portrait of an identity crisis that's run amok and a good mind that's jumped the tracks.
Read Full Review >Village Voice J. Hoberman
Bean has built a bonfire of contradictions and the ensuing conflagration illuminates a bit of the world.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Steve Davis
The film's greatest strength undeniably lies in Gosling's revelatory portrayal of Danny.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak
The film is so full of ideas and so dense that its narrative splinters, moving tangentially, and ultimately is weighed down by its rant and rhetoric.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
It is a challenging film, if not always a narratively cohesive one.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
Ryan Gosling's riveting as a neo-Nazi who was raised in Jewish faith
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The film's anti-Semitism is articulate but wrong, and the conflict between what the hero says and what he believes (or does not want to believe) is at the very center of the story.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert
An amazing and incendiary movie that dives straight into the rough waters of contradiction.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jennie Punter
The artistry of the storytelling, the visual approach and Gosling's performance in The Believer make us believe that Danny's path was the only choice for him, a truly disturbing and fascinating revelation.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
If nothing else, The Believer trusts that faith can not only withstand a little skepticism, but also gather strength and meaning from it.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
Those who see it at fests, and in carefully tailored specialized release, will be struck by the adroitness with which it addresses touchy issues, as well as by the outstanding performance of Ryan Gosling in the difficult leading role.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Julie Salamon
This willfully provocative film portrait offers lots of raging, vulgarity and shock but little insight into the character's psychopathology.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
Admirably ambitious and utterly unsparing, but as credible as the arc of Danny's odyssey is in itself, the all-important need to evoke a profound sense of the enigmatic and paradoxical in relation to Danny's fate has eluded Bean.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
Gosling's performance is a stunner, although the story-telling is otherwise pedestrian. It is the movie's blessing and curse that it does not shy away from Danny's murderous, inexplicable contradictions — or explain them.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Ken Fox
Flawed but undeniably provocative and brilliantly acted by Gosling.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
Treads an awfully thin line between the provocative and the exploitative.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Carla Meyer
The movie's shift into an implausible thriller magnifies its lack of character development. But Gosling gives an impassioned performance throughout.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Charles Taylor
A bad movie -- really a terrible movie -- with a daring idea behind it. And it's had the sort of crummy luck that, no matter what you think of it, can get you steamed.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.9 (out of 10) based on 12 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Ashleigh R. gave it a 10:
I LOVE THIS MOVIE!!! I watched it to see Ryan Gosling, because he is my favorite actor, but ended up loving it. I think the plot is great, and they picked and excellent cast.
Lodde gave it an 8:
I actually thought this movie was going to be much more terrible than it actually was, expecting nothing but rehashing and cliches from every other nazi movie I've seen. Instead what I saw was an excellent acting performance by the young lead, some extremely clever dialogue, and an interesting story all around. Definitely worth seeing at least once.
B. S. gave it a 10:
This is one of the best movies that I have seen in a long time. Very provocative with great lead acting.
Gilbert gave it a 9:
Nix on the movie's politics (are the filmmakers anti-semitic, or just doing a very good impression of it? Answers on a postcard) big "yay" on the movie itself...even if South Park did get to the whole Jewish-Anti-Semite idea first (and feel free to insert your own self-loathing Jew sterotype reference here). Keep an eye on Gosling. He'll be a great actor, once he's a fully grown goose.
Ryo M. gave it a 9:
Provacative, deep, and moving...but the message sometimes gets lost in its own magnitude. Ryan Gosling is a star...no doubts. His role is complicated but extremly well played.
Chad S. gave it an 8:
Sloppy storytelling doesn't provide the context for a great performance by Ryan Gosling. After Danny fails (on purpose) to assasinate a rabbi, his colleague accuses him of being a "kike". What's missing from Mr. Bean's storyline is a scene where the skinheads confront Danny about his suspect gentility. This violent confrontation that doesn't materialize is indicative of the filmmaker's approach of rhetoric over fistacuffs in approaching the volatile subject matter. It's a good thing Gosling can act because he does talk at great length. "The Believer" does accomplish what it set out to do, which is to work an audience over with the baffling politics of Danny Balint. Bean, to his credit, doesn't fully redeem this Neo-Fascist, as indicated by the great ambiguous ending. Danny's last ditch at redemption can't quite make up for the hurtful comments he tossed at a holocaust survivor. And we don't feel sorry for him. "The Believer" is an ugly looking movie but it has more congeniality than the beautiful corpse that's wowing critics and film snobs.
