What a waste of my time!!!

Lack of good storyline.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

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

Ryan Gosling is the star of this film, by which i mean that all other roles pale by comparison, although Theresa Russell plays her part very well.Gosling is a Jew. And a Nazi. Hmmm...This film is clever. The central idea here is that the way the Jews look at non-Jews could be looked at in the same way that Nazis viewed Jews. They are 'other'. There is an uncomfortable paradox there, and the film is exploring this.Obviously the big political and philosophical themes are important, and big issues feature big (being, as they are, big). But the thing that sticks out most for me is the performance of Ryan Gosling.His character Danny Balint, is in conflict. With himself. With Judaism. With the world. He is a tortured and confused young man, trying to make sense of a world that makes no sense.He is also super-bright, and a violent thug. A very scary combination.Obviously, a great actor (for that is what Gosling is) can do nothing without a superb script and fab direction. A lot of thought has gone into this film. Gosling manages to convince us that he is a devout Jew, on the one hand, and terminally ashamed of this on the other.This film is genuinely delicious. But one helping is enough. This is not powder-puff politics, and is not the kind of film you rewind immediately and watch again. This is disturbing stuff, brave and provocative. How will Danny's conflicts resolve themselves?Watch it to find out - you will not regret it.

This is a story about the rebellion of a young man regarding his religion. This young fella, who in the past, was taught to be Jewish, became to question Judaism ultimately having turned him into an anti-Semitic and a Nazism supporter. With some twists and turns we realizes that in the end he is Jewish, born and raised. An incredible performance of Ryan Gosling as a tough lunatic man and, I have to be honest, I think I felt a little in love for his lover, played by Summer Phoenix, a woman who is intriguing and gorgeous and that along the movie twists his mind with a mix of religious thoughts from one hand and fornication on the other.

2001's The Believer, Ryan Gosling's Film Debut, Gosling portrays Danny Balint. A young Jewish man who is struggling to understand Judaism, while developing Anti-Semetic views towards the World. Though based on real-life accounts of Ku Klux Klan Member Daniel Burros, who was outed as a Jew, in a News article, which later caused him to take his own life on the day the article was released, in October 1965, the film takes place in the Present Day, with a number of flashbacks to Danny's time in a Jewish School, as a young teen.A powerful, dark, extremely controversial, and resonating film, which garnered almost no recognition, though the performance from Gosling was spectacular. This film far exceeded my expectations.7.7/10

The Believer is like Danny: confused. The movie raises a lot of questions but answers little of them, in particular regarding the reasons that pushed him to develop such a hate.The script has almost no twists or turning points, and the dialogues are ultra verbose, which leads to an overall linearity and very slow paced rhythm.The direction and editing aren't much of a help either. The flashbacks fit badly with the story, but more importantly Henry Bean used tacky, ridiculous visual effects throughout the movie such as weird slow motions.In the end, the only satisfaction of this film is Ryan Gosling whose acting abilities are already noticeable even with his little experience at the time.