The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)
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Reviews Counted:124
Fresh:80
Rotten:44
Average Rating:6.2/10
Consensus: A touching and haunting family film that deals with the Holocaust in an arresting and unusual manner, and packs a brutal final punch of a twist.
Theatrical Release:12-09-2008
Synopsis: Based on the novel by John Boyne, THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS is a wrenching Holocaust story about a young German boy and his forbidden friendship with a Jewish child. Bruno (Asa Butterfield) is... [More]
Starring: Vera Farmiga, David Thewlis, Rupert Friend, David Hayman
Director: Mark Herman
Reviews for The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
| Tomatometer | Critic | Review | Category |
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The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas appears to be a little conflicted: it desperately wants the viewer to care about Bruno and Shmuel, yet the fact that this is a story not reality... places it, and the viewer, at arm's length. Full Review |
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 4/5 |
This intriguing wartime tale has an otherworldly quality that draws us into a gentle and increasingly haunting story Full Review |
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4/5 |
In short, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is an impressively directed and acted drama that packs a powerful emotional punch. Recommended. Full Review |
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2/5 |
Only in the last 10 minutes does it get to grips with the full horror of the Holocaust, and that saves it from a Disneyish propensity not to shock us too much or impose a feelgood ending. Full Review |
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3/5 |
Writer-director Mark Herman has done a creditable job of negotiating its volatile compound of fable and realism. Full Review |
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The film’s flimsy fabric of historical reimagining – a death camp with no watchtower and an out-of-sight corner for illicit pow-wows and tunnel-digging – makes the notionally harrowing ending seem a smash-and-grab raid on our susceptibilities. Full Review |
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4/5 |
As a Butterfield’s lack of emotional range restricts his portrayal of Bruno but any shortcomings are forgotten when the heart-in-mouth ending left The Sneak rooted to his seat in stunned silence. Full Review |
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3/5 |
Ignore the plummy accents – which isn’t easy – and what we have is a touching tale of a forbidden friendship with a really nice performance from the young Butterfield. Full Review |
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3/5 |
Despite the 12A certificate, I would regard this as most suitable for intelligent children aged ten to 12, who will be more prepared than adults to ignore its major implausibility - that security at concentration camps was ever this inefficient. Full Review |
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4/5 |
There are plausibility issues – no German accents; no guards noticing the kids’ frequent chats – but Herman builds a tightening sense of dread that finds no release in the final, tragic twist. Expect a sleepless night. Full Review |
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4/5 |
It's a noble, sincere undertaking that will see many leave the cinema with fresh insights. You can't really ask for much more than that. Full Review |
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Moreover, the production lacks the personal touch that might allow this story to resonate as parable – it's too conventionally classy and Miramaxed, with its swooping, prestige-picture camerawork and lachrymose score by the dread James Horner. Full Review |
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4/5 |
The acting is heartfelt, but the film carries a heaped cargo of conceits that has it wavering between the stark and the sentimental, the nuanced and the schematic. Full Review |
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4/5 |
Despite moments of improbable whimsy, this is a hugely affecting film. Important, too. It engages with the complexity of the Holocaust in a language that can move children as profoundly as adults. Full Review |
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3/5 |
A brave and haunting family film that will lift the brutality of the Holocaust out of the history books. Full Review |
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4/6 |
Ultimately, though, it’s the kids’ movie; both Butterfield and Scanlon deliver strong, poignant performances. Just prepare to leave the screening feeling somewhat depressed. Full Review |
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4/5 |
A powerfully affecting and unusual view of the Holocaust. Full Review |
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6/10 |
The harrowing final reel of the film earns its 12A rating Full Review |
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2.5/4 |
Built upon a powerful but gimmicky end, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas would make a fine short. As a full-length feature, though, the pajamas wear thin quickly. Full Review |
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5/5 |
Click to read the article Full Review |
CommentLatest News for The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
March 16, 2009:
An unlikely buddy flick which makes light of the Holocaust. 
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March 05, 2009:
In no way a fashion statement about sleepwear, but rather a solemnly imaginative political statement about the Germans asleep when it came to exactly what was going down during the Nazi regime. The Final Solution meets The Pied Piper.
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March 01, 2009:
In no way a fashion statement about sleepwear, but rather a solemnly imaginative political statement about the Germans asleep when it came to exactly what was going down during the Nazi regime. The Final Solution meets The Pied Piper.
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