Rating: 
Summary: In reply to Mr. Rossen's review...
Review: ... There is a reason this movie is getting bad reviews - because it is bad, not because of anti-semitism. Would I accuse you of hating Catholics if you gave a bad review to "Jesus of Nazereth?" Your thoughts are way off base. Second of all, does the fact that you have an extended family that lived through the holocaust give you some sort of vision into this movie that none of us could have recognized? Were you in a Nazi concentration camp? I hate to tell you but it is not a good movie whether your relatives lived through it or not. Don't get me wrong, I think what Hitler did was wrong, and I feel for every Jew, gypsie, and anyone else who had to live through it, but give me a break. I had extended family fight in World War II, does that mean I have some insight into "Saving Private Ryan" that others don't??? The fact is, don't blame the bad reviews on anti-semitism. For the rest of you, check out "Schindler's List" for a movie that is true to life about the holocaust (as you probably already know). As for you Mr. Rossen, try to grow up a little.
Rating: 
Summary: Jakob the Liar
Review: As a Jew, and whose extended family was in the Holocaust, this kind of movie is special to a Jew. As for the bad reviews it has received, I just see anti-semitisim hidden in movie-reviewing especially here. Just because you don't understand it doesn't mean it's awful. In Yeshua, shalom.
Edward Rossen
Rating: 
Summary: Do yourself a favour...
Review: Comparisons between "Life is Beautiful" and "Jakob the Liar" are inevitable. That is because they are the same, almost. Where Life is beautiful carefully wove a thread of humour into it's characters, Jakob the liar bludgeoned slapstick comedy into it's otherwise dark setting. The end result? Jakob the liar feels like a film that the producers chickened out of. No real feeling, no real tradegy, just a bit of a laugh. Do yourself a favour, watch Life is Beautiful.
Rating: 
Summary: Understand Where This Is Coming From
Review: Don't watch this expecting Life Is Beautiful or Schindlers List - Don't watch it expecting to compare it to other Robin Williams Films. Granted, it's not as realistic and the original German version but understand where the film is coming from. Read Jurek Beckers novel for more insight. I'm assuming this films takes from the novel (which is set in the Lodz ghetto in Poland) - it's not a lavish detailed holocaust film but the message of hope that is gained from this is great. Watch the original German production and read the book - then watch this version with an open mind.
Rating:
Summary: minor holocaust film
Review: Filmmakers with the chutzpah to tackle the holocaust always have to tread along some pretty slippery ground. How does one visualize the unimaginable horrors of such an apocalyptic human event without flinching, yet make it all palatable enough to keep the audience from fleeing the theatre? In addition, one must always avoid offending any of the actuals survivors who rightfully bridle at the first sign of softening or sugarcoating. Precious few film have managed to accomplish this feat and transform the experience into works of lasting art. In addition to "Schindler's List," of course, two other successful films come to mind: the 1965 Czech masterpiece, "The Shop on Main Street," and the beautiful 1983 Hungarian film, "The Revolt of Job." One of the reasons these three films succeed is because they all approach the subject from the viewpoint of a gentile outsider who is drawn into the momentous event and whose consequent moral dilemma becomes the audience's own. Through this approach, the audience is put not in the position of a helpless victim, doomed to unimaginable suffering, but of a participant whose actions could stand the chance of affecting a positive outcome on at least a small scale. The result is that each of these films avoids the overwhelming sense of depression and hopelessness that otherwise would accompany this heavy subject matter. "Jakob the Liar," like the recent "Life is Beautiful," plunges us directly into the center of the horror - the Warsaw ghetto in the months right before the Russian invasion of Poland. Robin Williams portrays Jakob, a former restauranteur who, through a series of flukes, manages to convince his fellow captives that he has a hidden radio which continually broadcasts news of the Russians' advance. This results in a temporary renewal of hope and courage as the inhabitants of the ghetto begin a plan of insurrection. Despite obviously noble intentions, "Jacob the Liar," itself a remake of a 1976 Polish film, seems far too artificial in its story and performances to ring true. Although Williams gives a relatively restrained account of himself and keeps the unctiousness of many of his recent film portrayals down to a minimum, he is still recognizable as Robin Williams, replete with the occasional stand-up comedian schtick, such as when he acts out all the voices in an ersatz radio program for the benefit of a little girl who has become his inadvertant ward. All throughout the movie, the writers provide moments of inappropriate mirth and slapstick that rob the subject of the seriousness of its purpose. And, although one sympathizes with the reason for doing so, is it really necessary to provide such an upbeat finale to a supposedly serious holocaust drama? This merely emphasizes the artificiality of the whole enterprise. One hesitates to be too harsh on a film of this nature. Certainly, its makers were driven far more by their love of the subject than the expectation of great boxoffice success - and "Jakob the Liar" is certainly no disgraceful failure for which its makers need be ashamed. It simply misses its mark both as a chronicle of the horrors of the holocaust and as a work of art. To see how that can be done, please check out "The Shop on Main Street," which still stands as quite simply one of the greatest films ever made!
Rating:
Summary: A Great Movie
Review: first off, Joseph from Montreal QC has no idea what he's talking about his review was completely false. The Nazi's, as history presesnts, were wicked, ruthless and uncaring people. their goal was to eliminate all the Jews in Europe not make friends with them. Joseph from Montreal QC doesn't have the correct information. He sounds like a Nazi sympathizer to me.
Anyway this movie is wonderful. watch it you will enjoy every moment in it
Rating:
Summary: ONE OF THE BETTER MOVIES TO INTRODUCE KIDS TO HOLOCAUST
Review: I have not read the book but I greatly enjoyed the movie. Good narrative, excellent cinematography, and some stunning background music. While the film may be held guilty for some cardboard characters (e.g., all Germans are mean looking men), Robin Williams was surely under-appreciated in his very concvincing cameo as Jakob, a pancake vendor, who pretends to have a radio and distribute good news to other Jews in the ghetto -- and I don't mean just the accent. The guy is brilliant. The theme is a cross between "Goodmorning Vietnam" meets "Life is beautiful" -- classic cultural interpretations of the forced lifestyle of the characters promote the effect of a rumour that a working radio exists in the barbed-wire ghetto, allowing a lowly pancake-vendor to raise to heroic proportions amidst his small group of associates and lie in the face of hope-dashing truth. At its heart, the story is about the irrefutable spirit of human life despite seemingly unsurmountable odds as Jakob deals with the consequences of either perpetuating his lie or coming out with the whole truth, weighing hope against despair. Swept up in his own joking accident and a few well-timed coincidences, endorsed by the ghetto residents, the ghetto organizes to resist their Nazi oppressors. As the fall of the Third Reich becomes more and more likely, the tangle of truth and falsity tightens around Jakob and each lie becomes more and more needed. An interesting angle to look at the Holocaust, it serves as one of the better movies to introduce younger audiences to that odious period of human history. Oh, and did I mention that the background score is marvellous?
Rating:
Summary: A emotional tearjerker that will make you think
Review: I just bought this movie last night at Wal-mart and watched it. I am so glad I did. There are some people who are giving it bad reviews. I think it deserves only good ones. Robin Williams is excellent and plays the title role perfectly. It is the story about a man in the ghetto who begins to pretend he has a radio in order to give other jews hope. While telling his lies he is secretly hiding a little jewish girl in his attic in order to keep her from going to a camp. I wont give away the ending but I will say the ending is very powerful and will move you to tears. This movie can be brilliantly funny, and then turn bitterly tragic, and evn after that come through as an amazingly powerfull testiment to the human spirit and the humen heart. Watch this movie. You wont regret it.
Rating:
Summary: In reply to Mr. Rossen's review...
Review: I think that most people reviewing this film completely missed the point. Yes this is a story of the Holocaust with some humorous elements, but the story doesn't flinch at the absolute tragic and bleak circumstances of this period in our history. I think that is what is so brilliantly humane about this film. Let's face it, in real life, which is not always accurately portrayed in reel life, dire and grim circumstances often prompt a gallows humor--thus the origin of the term. Additionally, it is essential if you consider yourself a devotee of film, to listen to the director's commentary. His observations on the making of the movie, particularly, concerning the differences between European and American film making are absolutely brilliant. His comment that complexity and subtlety are "good" comments in Europe, but box office poison in the States are absolutely sad, but true. Through the commentary you also learn that director, Peter Kassovitz, was hidden by a Hungarian family in order to save him from the Holocaust, which brought a bittersweet authenticity to the entire film.
Rating:
Summary: Must see for students and fans of film
Review: I think that most people reviewing this film completely missed the point. Yes this is a story of the Holocaust with some humorous elements, but the story doesn't flinch at the absolute tragic and bleak circumstances of this period in our history. I think that is what is so brilliantly humane about this film. Let's face it, in real life, which is not always accurately portrayed in reel life, dire and grim circumstances often prompt a gallows humor--thus the origin of the term. Additionally, it is essential if you consider yourself a devotee of film, to listen to the director's commentary. His observations on the making of the movie, particularly, concerning the differences between European and American film making are absolutely brilliant. His comment that complexity and subtlety are "good" comments in Europe, but box office poison in the States are absolutely sad, but true. Through the commentary you also learn that director, Peter Kassovitz, was hidden by a Hungarian family in order to save him from the Holocaust, which brought a bittersweet authenticity to the entire film.
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