Clarissa Mora The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Leoni Haney Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Aspen Orson There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

room102 Loosely based on a real person, Ryan Gosling plays a right-wing Nazi who is actually Jewish. While he spends his time hating Jews and joining a Jew-hating group, he struggles his internal conflict. On the one hand he has a lot of respect to his religion and culture, on the other hand he hates it and his people. While many of the people in the group are just ignorant thugs, he is obviously one of the most intellectual people in the group.Very interesting subject (even more when you know it's actually (loosely) based on a real person) which raises some interesting questions.Ryan Gosling is very good in one of the earliest roles. While the movie is interesting, it shows the lack of budget and lack of experience by a first time director. The script itself could have also use some polishing and I didn't like the cinematography which uses close-ups way too often.Still, it's an interesting story with good points, good questions and good acting by Gosling - and the fact that I saw it at least 3 times by now proves something too.

Theo Robertson This stirred up a lot of controversy when it was released . Up and coming pretty boy actor plays violent neo-Nazi in no holds barred indie film examining racial hatred and what sets THE BELIEVER apart from its peers is that it's 1 ) Based on a true story 2 ) The violent protagonist is from an orthodox Jewish background himself Now that the controversy has died to such an extent you're left thinking if there was any controversy at all then what we're left with is a movie that is confused and totally underdeveloped . So much so that I have no hesitation that this is a fairly dreadful movie regardless of its content Early on we're shown via flashback the protagonist Danny Balint struggle to believe that the Abrahamic God he is taught about at school is a benevolent loving God and the audience are left thinking he's no different from the likes of Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens in that God is the cruellist , most sadistic character in fiction . Effectively Danny's rage doesn't come from his views on race but from religion . In fact the film ends with a character telling him " Don't go up there. There's nothing there " which can be interpreted as going to heaven . But the way rest of the film has been badly developed this is surely coincidence rather than subtext Things happen in the film that are never followed up on and remain unexplained . Danny gets together with like minded violent Nazi types , or should that be stereotypes ? They're portrayed in such a one dimensional manner you're almost expecting them to burst in to Springtime For Hitler . They decide to bomb a Synagog but not before Danny tells them to leave the Judiac scripture alone . Luckily the bomb doesn't go off and one wonders if Danny had something to do with this , but this is never followed up . Likewise a sniper attack where Danny misses his target and one of Danny's colleague is wounded comes to nothing . Throughout the movie you're expecting Nazi characters we were introduced to earlier in the film to re-appear and add something to the plot but people appear then disappear from the narrative without explanation or follow through This is a painfully ill thought out film that leaves the audience thinking what the point of the film is . It does touch upon the suggestion that some of the hierarchy of Nazi Germany were of distant Jewish descent themselves hence a bitter irony but like everything else in the movie you never believe this is what the film is trying to tell us. It's confused storytelling at its very worst BTW the selling point that it's based on a " true life character " , namely Daniel Burros is merely artistic license . It's " a true story " in much the same way Michael Bay's PEARL HARBOR is a true story . In other words it's a cynical marketing excersise . In the words of Public Enemy don't believe the hype

yiorgos78 When the theme of a movie is neo-Nazis and how they treat other people, especially Jews, you can't help but comparing it to "american history X". So as the film started I began to compare the two movies, but felt that it wasn't fair and it would bias my opinion, so i stopped after 10 minutes and gave it a chance to stand on its own.It just can't.How is it that a Nazi is a Jew, but he's conflicted about it? And lets say i buy that;from the middle and forward the movie became so flat without the smallest effort to give us a peak of this confliction. After the film ended i felt i took a trip to endless nothingness!Total waste of time.

Desertman84 The Believer is a drama that stars Ryan Gosling as Daniel Balint, an Orthodox Jew who becomes a Neo-Nazi. Billy Zane,Theresa Russell and Summer Phoenix co-stars.The film is loosely based on the true story of Daniel Burros, a member of the American Nazi Party and the New York branch of the United Klans of America who committed suicide after being exposed by a New York Times reporter to be Jewish.It was written by Mark Jacobson and Henry Bean,also the film's director.Danny Balint is a member of a gang of racist skinheads that espouses a vile but well-articulated philosophy of anti-Semitism. He also has a secret: he is a Jew and was a top student in Hebrew school before he began to ask too many questions about the deeper implications of the teachings in the Torah and the Old Testament.Then he got expelled. Angry and confused, he began to explore the philosophies of the neo-Nazi movement, which he soon came to embrace through a mixture of anger over the tragic history of the Jewish people, bitterness over his experiences in Hebrew school, and a loathing of himself. He soon becomes a key member of a skinhead sect led by Curtis and Lina but while they believe that the desire for cultural assimilation by many American Jews will lead to their self-destruction, Danny advocates a more direct and violent approach in dealing with the "enemy".As Danny gains the admiration of his fellow skinheads for his intelligence and commitment, he wins the affection of Carlaand a group member with severe masochistic tendencies. But in time Danny's beliefs begin to shift once again, just as the truth about his background becomes known to his comrades.The Believer is a reminder of the power of film to move us and to make us examine our values.It is also one of the most thought-provoking and hard-hitting films ever released.Also,its underlying premise 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.Finally,what really makes it effective is Ryan Gosling,who commands the screen with a raw, electrifying performance for he is a powerful actor.