Review of The Believer (2001) by Christian M — 14 Mar 2015

This is the second movie that I've seen Ryan Gosling in that I've actually liked. And I'm surprised that this film isn't better known. But I loved this movie and Ryan Gosling totally made the movie for me.

The concept of this film is so fascinating. A jew who becomes a Neo-Nazi is something I would have never thought could be made into a movie, but it was and the result is amazing. The story is about Danny Balint a Jewish Skinhead or Neo-Nazi whatever you preffer and he's a character that's having so much conflict going on inside of him throughout the entire movie.

He despises Jews, yet he is one. And he wants nothing to do with these people, but he can't deny the tradition and still has respect for it and not only does he still respect it he still believes it.

I remember one scene where him and his skinhead buddies were ripping apart a synagogue and the skinheads were playing with the Torah and Danny was trying to get them to be respectful to it without giving away that he was a jew.

And when his girlfriend was over there was a part where she was naked in front of it and he tells her to get dressed because it's forbidden to be naked in front of that sacred text. And yet there are many moments when he just wants to show how much he hates jews and wants to hate them for the sake of hating them not because he wants to kill them per say.

But then again there is a moment in the movie when he describes his hatred for jews and he had this to say: "They're like rats running across the floor and you just want to step on them." Yet despite the fact that he's a part of a gang of idiots he's the only smart one in the crowd.

The Skinheads hate on the people they hate just to get attention and to be stupid, whereas Danny actually researches valid reasons for why he can hate them and continue to hate them and I gave him a reasonable amount of respect for that (despite the fact that he was wrong).

Because more than anything I can't stand people who say they hate something and right when you ask them why they don't have any good reason other than: It's stupid, or they suck or it's not good or some other dumb reason to hate on someone.

In the End it's a great movie. The ending could have been better, but all is forgiven. Bravo Ryan Gosling and bravo Henry Bean.