Jakob the Liar
starring: Michael Jeter, Mathieu Kassovitz, Mark Margolis, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Nina Siemaszko
directed by: Peter Kassovitz
directed by: Peter Kassovitz
You Pay Only: $9.95
Prices subject to change.Availability: Usually ships in 9 to 13 days
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Sony
EAN: 9780767821476
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 0767821475
Label: Sony Pictures
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Region Code: 1
Release Date: March 21, 2000
Running Time: 120 minutes
Sales Rank: 10566
Studio: Sony Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: 1999
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
In nazi-occupied poland during world war ii poor jewish cafe owner jakob heym accidentally over-hears a forbidden radio news bulletin signaling soviet military success against german forces. To combat the overwhelming depression and suicide that pervades the ghetto jakob invents ficticous news bulletins. Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 06/01/2004 Starring: Robin Williams Armin Mueller-stahl Run time: 120 minutes Rating: Pg13 Director: Peter Kassovitz
Amazon.com:
Roberto Benigni's Life Is Beautiful aside, milking the Holocaust for laughs is a dangerous game. Even the blackest, most therapeutic humor turns queasy in the shadow of such monstrous evil; it's like dancing on a mass grave. So Jakob the Liar's got a hard road to hoe--its eponymous schlemiel plays out his semi-farcical adventures in the mean streets of the Warsaw Ghetto circa 1944. The skies are always leaden over Jakob's hometown, reflecting the comic climate that pervades this mostly unfortunate adaptation of Jurek Becker's autobiographical book (first filmed in 1975).
Jakob Heym (Robin Williams in overbearingly earnest mode) gets tangled in a string of self-perpetuating lies about a hidden radio, supposedly broadcasting news that the victorious Red Army is nearing. His desperate attempts to convince a clutch of insistently idiosyncratic friends (clichés to a man: Liev Schreiber, Bob Balaban, Michael Jeter, Alan Arkin) and obligatory Nazi bad guys that the radio doesn't exist are complicated by the fact that he's stashed a fugitive kid (a dead ringer--sorry!--for Anne Frank) in his attic--and by abundant evidence that lies are the best medicine for the ghetto's skyrocketing suicide rate. Copious unfunny misunderstandings and pratfalls eventuate in this Holocaust rendition of Fiddler on the Roof (you expect Williams to break into song: 'If I were a funny man....'). Ultimately, Jakob the Liar loses its way for good in some very ugly violence and a rather nasty final twist: the film's ending might just be rubbing our noses in another feel-good lie. --Kathleen Murphy
Average Rating: 
Rating:
- Jacob The LiarBought Jakob The Liar because am a fan of Robin Williams, actors will make a bad movie every now ... Read More
Rating:
- Highly RecommendedExcellent film! Shows a realistic view of life in the Ghetto during WWII without the gore of "The ... Read More
Rating:
- Beware of the ReviewsThere are two films named "Jacob the Liar". The Robin Williams film (actually spelled "Jakob the Liar") ... Read More
Rating:
- An honest liarJakob the Liar/Jakob der Lugner was the only East German film to be Oscar-nominated and, considering how ... Read More
Rating:
- Sincere but not entirely successful remakeJakob the Liar/Jakob der Lugner was the only East German film to be Oscar-nominated, yet it was long-forgotten ... Read More
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