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Rating of
2.5/4
The Reader
worleyjamers - wrote on 06/29/2013
The Reader is an interesting little film. I love dramas and Stephen Daldry is one of my favorite directors (The Hours, Billy Elliot). The reason I say it's interesting is because it features some really great elements, but I don't think it's a "great" film. It's a gorgeous movie, Winslet is great (even though it's not her best performance imo), David Kross is surprisingly good, Daldry's direction is solid, and the supporting cast is quite nice, but overall the film suffers from some pacing problems and it felt a bit emotionally cold to me. I was reminded a lot of the English Patient, only The Reader isn't quite as epic or effective. Still worthy of a recommendation. Nominated for 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress.
Rating of
2/4
"The Reader" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 07/31/2012
A teenage boy has an illicit affair with an older woman in post war Berlin and years later finds her on trial as an Auschwitz prison guard. The Reader is a very worthy examination of German post war guilt and the resulting gulf between the following generations which no doubt resulted in the creation of the Baader-Meinhof gang. The most interesting part of the film is actually the moral debate between the law students and their tutor and it does make some interesting points about the consequences of culpability through inaction, but the structure of the film as seen through the eyes of an infatuated young boy and his older, wiser self doesn't really work. It has that kind of sterile tastefulness that "Oscar nominated" films always have and it completely lacked any emotional involvement …
Rating of
4/4
Hey There, Kid
PsychoKing1227 - wrote on 08/04/2009
As far as I'm concerned, this film was incredible. Complex, intriguing, quite possibly the most heart-wrenching performance by Kate Winslet since "Revolutionary Road," "The Reader" is one truly brilliant film. Stephen Daldry took a book that was written rather sloppily and simplistically and transformed it into a [let's be honest] visually boring yet characteristically fascinating study of morals, affection, and judgement.
Taking a Nazi prison guard that allowed hundreds of women to burn alive in a church and making her a type of martyr and hero is not an easy task to undertake. Kate Winslet looks like my Mom, too, which made her acting all the more personal and affective. A great film that everyone will enjoy, should they be okay with a dragging second act and a constitution for …
Rating of
4/4
Complex, Intriguing Character Studies
Franz Patrick - wrote on 01/26/2009
If Kate Winslet doesn’t get nominated and win two Oscars for her performances in “Revolutionary Road” and “The Reader,” I would be very disappointed with the Academy. Having seen pretty much all of the films that generated the most buzz in the Best Actress category, I can vouch that she’s the one who truly deserves it. In “The Reader,” Winslet shines as a woman who gets sexually entangled with a fifteen-year-old boy, played with such vulnerability and innocence by David Kross. Strangely enough, even though their relationship is taboo, I’m willing to admit that I did find chemistry between the two of them. In the first half of the picture, Stephen Daldry, the director, was smart enough to focus on the two leads’ hunger. That hunger is presented both emotionally and …
