Its strengths are counterbalanced by narrative weaknesses that pull the viewer out of the experience.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Sep 29, 2023

Gosling takes full advantage of The Believer’s compelling story to deliver an unforgettable psychological portrait of a man who is literally his own worst enemy.

| Jul 25, 2023

A traditional but well-made examination of one Danny Balint, a disgruntled yeshiva student turned skinhead thug.

| Feb 25, 2020

... stars an astonishing Ryan Gosling...

| Feb 3, 2018

People have a right to make godless films. Bean's made one, and it's as brilliant as it is humane.

| Nov 15, 2017

Gosling's Danny is frighteningly believable, in his mad hatreds and when gradually confronting inner doubts.

| Jan 1, 2013

An exploration of what it means to be Jewish and what it means to hate - two separate subjects that happen to overlap in this case.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 15, 2009

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 30, 2006

The underlying premise of The Believer is simple and understandable to any one of us who have grown indifferent to many of the teachings we accepted with such naivet, such open hopeful hearts throughout our early education.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Sep 27, 2006

Loosely based on Daniel Burros (a Nazi who killed himself when the NY Times revealed his Jewishness), the film offers a stimulating meditation on the inescapable impact of religion and burden of history on personal identities.

| Original Score: A- | Apr 6, 2006

No polemic, the movie puts our own religious sensibilities and prejudices to the test. The result is arresting, prickly, vaguely funny, even - 'difficult' in the best sense.

| Jan 26, 2006

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Dec 6, 2005

Em uma performance absolutamente brilhante, o jovem Ryan Gosling cria um personagem que, mesmo moralmente desprezvel, fascina por seu conflito interior.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 7, 2004

The underdevloped Believer has at its core a performance of searing and genuine intensity, yet it also regrettably handles the psychological turmoil of its antagonistic protagonist with kid gloves.

| Original Score: C- | Jul 18, 2003

Gosling projects a feral intelligence that is riveting...

Full Review | Jul 3, 2003

It's an explosive and disturbing film that forces the audience to ask difficult questions about the nature of belief.

| Jul 2, 2003

It made for an emotionally hair-pulling ride, without benefit of much intellectual give and take.

| Original Score: C+ | Jun 29, 2003

An uncomfortable experience, but one as brave and challenging as you could possibly expect these days from American cinema.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 29, 2003

The Believer is packed to the gills with various speeches and lectures and theological bantering. Much of it ends with someone getting a baseball bat to the head.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Apr 27, 2003

this polarizing film deserves a wider audience

| Original Score: B+ | Feb 23, 2003