Written and directed by Henry Bean, The Believer spins a - frankly - utterly unbelievable story (purportedly inspired by a true story) of a young Jew, Danny Balint (played by the latest 'it' guy - Ryan Gosling) who's turned his back on his jewish heritage and spun headlong into neo-Nazism. While Gosling is brilliant in this film, the supporting crew, and more so, the rather pieced together story riddled with long philosophic ramblings about race and religion, a foiled assassination attempt on a Jewish politician, a (sort of) love story, neo-Nazi training camps and a synagogue desecration just don't add up. What's worse, despite the fine, fine performance by Gosling, Bean ends the film with a redemptive afterthought ... almost as if he got so far in, he suddenly realized, 'oh my, how am I going to get out of this?'. All that said, however, the film is worth a viewing to watch Gosling's excellent performance as an antihero you simultaneously hate to love, and love to hate.
My rating 6 out of 10.
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