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Jerichow

EMAILPRINTCinema Guild

Jerichow reviews
71
8.0 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 14 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 1 votes
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama

Written by: Christian Petzold

Directed by: Christian Petzold

Release Date:
Theatrical: May 15, 2009

Running Time: 93 minutes, Color

Origin: Germany

Language(s): German | Turkish

Summary

RATING: Not Rated

Starring Nina Hoss, Brenno Fürmann, and Hilmi Sozer

In a small desolate town in northeastern Germany, a handsome ex-soldier, a Turkish businessman, and his beautiful, and his beautiful, restless wife find themselves in a desperate love triangle in this suspenseful reworking of James M. Cain’s classic Depression-era novel The Postman Always Rings Twice. (The Cinema Guild)

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...

83

The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray

The movie ends abruptly, setting up an epilogue that viewers will have to provide for themselves. Jerichow's sparseness, tiny cast, and minimal plot can make the film seem a little elusive, but there’s a certain elegance to Petzold's concision, too. He shows all he wants us to see.

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80

Variety Derek Elley

A tightly constructed "dramatic thriller" in which the tension comes as much from what the characters are thinking as from what they end up doing, Jerichow again confirms writer-helmer Christian Petzold ("Yella," "The State I Am In") as a world-class talent who remains underappreciated beyond Germany.

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80

Village Voice Melissa Anderson

Jerichow forgoes the prolonged double-crosses of "The Postman Always Rings Twice," its simpler ending made all the more powerful--and a little heartbreaking.

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75

New York Post V.A. Musetto

The final twist is completely unexpected.

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75

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Petzold, who also wrote the script, doesn't make level one thrillers, and his characters may be smarter than us, or dumber. It's never just about the plot, anyway. It has to do with random accidents, dangerous coincidences, miscalculations, simple mistakes. And the motives are never simple.

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75

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

This is a movie made by and for adults, and adults should consider seeing it.

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75

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

A taut, German-made thriller, Jerichow adds a bit of European xenophobia to the pulp traditions of passion and betrayal.

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70

The Hollywood Reporter Ray Bennett

It's a well-constructed and thoughtfully paced drama and almost a thriller, but in the end credibility and tension get lost in the mail.

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70

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

Told in lean, tense cinematic gestures, Jerichow also captures a social portrait of newly multicultural Germany, at least as it extends into the country's forgotten rural interior.

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70

The New Yorker Anthony Lane

So compact and controlled is this fine film.

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70

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Petzold, who has a crisp style and sharp sense of the visual, is too talented and imaginative to allow his film to become predictable. Rather, Jerichow offers implicit, sardonic social comment as well as a compelling playing out of the eternal triangle.

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70

The New York Times A.O. Scott

No one in Jerichow is entirely deserving of sympathy, which gives the film a detached, clinical feeling underlined by the director’s habit of observing emotions rather than evoking them.

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63

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

As ridiculous German suspense dramas go, you could do worse than Jerichow.

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60

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Undeniably well executed.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 1 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jim F gave it an8:
A well-made, tightly directed German reworking of "The Postman Always Rings Twice", "Jerichow" is as cold-blooded and ironic as "Blood Simple", without being in the least bit funny.

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