StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Sammy-Jo Cervantes There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Claudio Carvalho In a poor neighborhood of New York, the bitter and lonely Jewish pawnbroker Sol Nazerman (Rod Steiger) is a survivor from Auschwitz that has no emotions or feelings. Sol lost his dearest family and friends in the war and the faith on God and the belief in mankind. Now he only cares for money and is haunted by daydreams, actually flashbacks from the period of the concentration camp. Sol's assistant is the ambitious Latin Jesus Ortiz (Jaime Sanchez), a former urchin that has regenerated and now wants to learn with Sol how to run a business of his own. When Sol realizes that the obscure laundry business he has with the powerful gangster Rodriguez (Brock Peters) comes also from brothels, Sol recalls the fate of his beloved wife in the concentration camp and has a nervous breakdown. His attitude leads Jesus Ortiz to a tragedy and Sol finds a way to cry. "The Pawnbroker" is a powerful and realistic story of bitterness, loneliness and disbelief in mankind of a man victim of the Holocaust. Rod Steiger has certainly the best performance of his career in the complex role of a skeptical and bitter Jewish. His assistant is an ambiguous character that contrasts with the pawnbroker with his optimistic and happy behavior. In the end, the pawnbroker feels the need to cry and impales his hand with a spike, also in a reference of Jesus Christ. My vote is eight. Title (Brazil): "O Homem do Prego" ("The Man of the Spike" – literally; however, it is a pun that also means "The Pawnbroker")

Lee Eisenberg Sidney Lumet is probably best known for movies like "Dog Day Afternoon" and "Network", but another really good film that he directed is "The Pawnbroker". This one stars Rod Steiger as concentration camp survivor Sol Nazerman, now running a pawnshop in East Harlem. The horror that Sol witnessed has left him embittered. Moreover, he has not escaped violence: the streets of New York see no shortage of gang warfare. A major focus is how, despite his alienation from the world, Sol tries to explain the ramifications of what happened to the young Puerto Rican who idolizes him.It's fairly well known that Groucho Marx wanted the role of Sol. I don't know exactly how the movie would have come out had he played the role -- although it might have been a little harder to take seriously -- but Steiger is perfect as the man still trying to put his life back together. A very good one. I recommend it.Watch for a young Morgan Freeman as the man on the street.

gavin6942 A Jewish pawnbroker (Rod Steiger), victim of Nazi persecution, loses all faith in his fellow man until he realizes too late the tragedy of his actions.What goes on at the corner of Park Avenue and East 116th Street? Your friendly neighborhood pawn shop doing business, or a hub for criminal elements? Ivan Butler says the film presents "the beastliness and squalor of life in a big city", with even the life-saving ambulance featuring a "battered chassis". Butler's praise knows no bounds when he says, "Rod Steiger's performance ranks among the half dozen greatest in the cinema, and the film is filled with unforgettable moments." There is an interesting social commentary here, though what exactly it says may be unclear. A Jewish man, who has survived the Holocaust, now provides a service for the poor, who he calls "scum". Is it right for him to look down on people when he was once looked down on? And is his "service" helping the people or only further forcing them into poverty? In some sense, he has become the new oppressor, controlling the lives of his neighbors by deciding how much the important pieces of their lives are worth, and collecting their rings much as the Nazis had once collected the rings of his fellow prisoners.While probably not intentional, one could make the case that this film is an allegory for the state of Israel. The members there, once oppressed, now keep their neighbors down. That strikes me as being far more political than this story was reaching for, though.Interestingly, this was Morgan Freeman's first movie (as an uncredited man on the street). And strangely, you will notice that the music first heard as background on the radio in the scene between Ortiz and his girlfriend was later revived by Quincy Jones to become the title theme music to the Austin Powers films.

Ben Larson This has to be the most depressing film I have ever seen. I seriously stopped in the middle because I was getting so bummed out.Rod Steiger as Sol Nazerman, the pawnbroker of the title is brilliant in the role. I doubt if there is anyone else who could have brought froth the depths of despair that Nazerman was experiencing. He lost everything, not just a family, but his who reason for living, and, as he says, there was nothing he could do about it. He was utterly helpless as his world crumbled.He was a man without compassion or felling. His only comfort was money, and that really did him no good. It did not help him when he was reliving the flashbacks from the Holocaust. All he wanted to do was die, but apparently did not have the will to do it himself, so he set himself up for killing.Steiger wasn't the only person that made this film worth watching. There was Brock Peters as a gangster, Thelma Oliver as the girlfriend of his assistant (Jaime Sánchez), and Sánchez himself.The gritty and dark setting was perfect for the film. Sidney Lumet was excellent as the director.