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The Believer (2002)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:85
Fresh:69
Rotten:16
Average Rating:7.3/10
Consensus: Gosling commands the screen with a raw, electrifying performance.
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Raised Jewish, Danny (Ryan Gosling) now runs with an anti-Semitic skinhead gang in Queens. Attending a meeting held by prominent self-proclaimed fascist Curtis Zampf (Billy Zane), Danny is noticed... Raised Jewish, Danny (Ryan Gosling) now runs with an anti-Semitic skinhead gang in Queens. Attending a meeting held by prominent self-proclaimed fascist Curtis Zampf (Billy Zane), Danny is noticed when he proposes killing Jews as a solution to society's problems. Danny's words create excitement not only for their racist content, but also for his articulate way of expressing himself and his knowledge of the Jewish faith. Zampf sees potential in Danny and takes him under his wing. Working with the enigmatic extremist, Danny meets the sadomasochistic Carla (Summer Phoenix). Between rough sexual encounters, Danny teaches Carla Hebrew and facts about Judaism. Carla becomes interested in the Jewish faith while Danny becomes disillusioned with his neo-Nazi lifestyle finding it as hypocritical as he found Judaism to be. Haunted by his past and questioning his own beliefs, Danny finds himself a prime suspect in the assassination of a respected Jewish figure. Writer-director Henry Bean scored a success with this American independent focusing more on faith than hatred. THE BELIEVER won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for Best Screenplay and Best First Feature at the 2002 Independent Spirit Awards. [More]
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Summer Phoenix, Billy Zane, Theresa Russell
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Summer Phoenix, Billy Zane, Theresa Russell, A.D. Miles, Kris Eivers, Jacob Green, Ronald Guttman, Joel Garland, Sig Libowitz
Director: Henry Bean
Director: Henry Bean
Screenwriter: Henry Bean
Producer: Susan Hoffman, Christopher Roberts
Composer: Joel Diamond
Studio: IDP Distribution
Reviews for The Believer
The screenplay offers a complex premise and delivers on it in thought-provoking ways
Making American History X look like a shallow MTV commercial, The Believer is first class film-making.
The underlying premise of The Believer is simple and understandable to any one of us who have grown indifferent to many of the teachings we accepted with such naiveté, such open hopeful hearts throughout our early education.
Loosely based on Daniel Burros (a Nazi who killed himself when the NY Times revealed his Jewishness), the film offers a stimulating meditation on the inescapable impact of religion and burden of history on personal identities.
Em uma performance absolutamente brilhante, o jovem Ryan Gosling cria um personagem que, mesmo moralmente desprezível, fascina por seu conflito interior.
The underdevloped Believer has at its core a performance of searing and genuine intensity, yet it also regrettably handles the psychological turmoil of its antagonistic protagonist with kid gloves.
It made for an emotionally hair-pulling ride, without benefit of much intellectual give and take.
An uncomfortable experience, but one as brave and challenging as you could possibly expect these days from American cinema.
The Believer is packed to the gills with various speeches and lectures and theological bantering. Much of it ends with someone getting a baseball bat to the head.
Latest News for The Believer
June 28, 2007:
Ryan Gosling Signs On to Peter Jackson's "Lovely Bones"
The 27-year-old actor will be playing the husband to 36-year-old Rachel Weisz. They'll be playing the parents of a (dead) 14-year-old girl in the Peter Jackson pic. More...
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