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A Lions Gate release. Written and directed by Henry Bean; starring Ryan Gosling and Billy Zane. Released to DVD on April 22, 2003.  The Believer is quite an enigmatic film. While the production of the movie itself isn’t great and the overall appeal of the material (religious fanaticism) slightly below the radar of most movie-goers, the thought-provoking nature of the script and the genuinely amazing performance by lead Ryan Gosling (Murder by Numbers) tend to make The Believer a significantly smarter picture with a far broader horizon than anything McG would ever direct. Gosling stars as Danny Balint, a neo-Nazi who just happens to be Jewish. While this might initially seem to be an enormous conflict of interest, writer/director Henry Bean took specific pains to make Balint’s character intrinsically human and sympathetic. Balint is torn between Judaism, which he grew up with, and his hate for the Jewish faith, which has come about because of the supposed glaring errors in the foundation of the faith that make no sense to him. And while I originally had my doubts about whether an actor or a director could pull off the idea of a character being severely prejudiced against himself, Bean and Gosling manage to do just that. The Believer has been a pet project of Bean’s since the late ‘60’s and it’s obvious that Bean has given much thought to the ramifications of Balint’s actions and how a man who truly hates what he is would act in almost any circumstance. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2001, The Believer is a different, more thoughtful project than most that grace American theaters. The peculiar and well-delivered hook at the core of the film–this is the story of a Jewish Nazi–caused me to think about this movie for days after I had first screened it. The Believer isn’t the most well-made or visually stunning picture I’ve ever seen, but is far more literate and reflective than the majority of other films of the last five years, and for that it deserves a lot of respect and credit.
Chris Neumer yes, it's true: The Believer is actually based on a true story that took place in New York in the ‘60’s involving a man named Daniel Burroughs who was Jewish and a Nazi. | |||||
