The Believer
2001
**½
Director: Henry Bean
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Jacob Green, Billy Zane, Theresa Russell, Summer Phoenix, Ronald Guttman, Glenn Fitzgerald, Garret Dillahunt, Heather Goldenhersh, A. D. Miles
Daniel Balint is a smart and articulate Neo-Nazi who hates the Jews from the bottom of his heart. The twist is that he is Jewish himself. Ryan Gosling, in his breakthrough role, plays this young conflicted man with impressive intensity. Henry Bean's controversial drama is thought-provoking but flat. The film's combination of long-drawn debates and clumsily visualised bursts of violence is never particularly compelling.
