RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / Fugitive Pieces
Fugitive Pieces

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Fugitive Pieces (2008)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
65 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:20

Fresh:13

Rotten:7

Average Rating:6.7/10

Consensus: Though the retelling is a bit too subtle, the moving story and solid performances lift Fugitive Pieces beyond standard holocaust tales.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for some sexuality.

Runtime: 1 hr 48 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:May 2, 2008 Limited

Box Office: $449,048

Synopsis: Adapted from Anne Michael's acclaimed prose-poem novel, FUGITIVE PIECES is a harrowing and haunting tale of Holocaust survival and personal awakening. The film opens in Poland, as young Jakob Berr... Adapted from Anne Michael's acclaimed prose-poem novel, FUGITIVE PIECES is a harrowing and haunting tale of Holocaust survival and personal awakening. The film opens in Poland, as young Jakob Berr (Robbie Kay) is hidden away just before German soldiers storm into his Jewish family's home. After watching his parents murdered and his sister dragged away to an uncertain fate, Jakob flees and hides in the woods. He is discovered by a kindly Greek archaeologist, Athos (Rade Sherbedgia), who smuggles the sickly Jakob back to his own island home and hides him for the rest of the war. Years later, having moved to Canada, the grownup Jakob (Stephen Dillane) has become a writer struggling to articulate his childhood horrors, haunted by the mystery of his sister's fate. But after his troubled emotions lead to the breakup of his marriage to the free-spirited Alex (Rosamund Pike), Jakob must exorcise the ghosts of his past if he is to close a traumatic chapter of his life and find beauty in the present. Director Jeremy Podeswa (THE FIVE SENSES) ably shifts between the different stages of Jakob's life, showing how grief can continue to influence one's actions--or inaction--in the years that follow a tragedy. Handsomely shot and thoughtfully acted, FUGITIVE PIECES is a touching testimony to the power of remembrance and redemption. [More]

Starring: Stephen Dillane, Rade Sherbedgia, Rosamund Pike, Ayelet Zurer

Starring: Stephen Dillane, Rade Sherbedgia, Rosamund Pike, Ayelet Zurer, Robbie Kay, Ed Stoppard, Rachelle Lefevre, Nina Dobrev

Director: Jeremy Podeswa

Director: Jeremy Podeswa
Screenwriter: Jeremy Podeswa
Producer: Robert Lantos
Composer: Nikos Kypourgos
Studio: Samuel Goldwyn Films

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
1 - 5 of 15

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Get This Movie

Rent DVD
 
 

Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.

 
 
Buy DVD
 
 
Release:

Oct 14, 2008

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Fugitive Pieces

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Fugitive Pieces delivers its own evocative poetry.

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
07/11/08
Lisa Kennedy
Lisa Kennedy
Denver Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The great Serbian actor Rade Serbedzija gives Fugitive Pieces its heart.

Full Review Source: Film.com | comment Comment
07/11/08
Jonathan F. Richards
Jonathan F. Richards
Film.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Tasteful, unremarkable art-house fare, rescued from complete irrelevance by Stephen Dillane's bottled-up performance as a writer scarred by the Holocaust.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
06/13/08
J. R. Jones
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

If Fugitive Pieces has a message, it is that life can heal us, if we allow it.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
06/13/08
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Fugitive Pieces is often quiet, lyrical, reflective and underplayed. It doesn't minimize Holocaust suffering--far from it--but it strives, often successfully, to unearth the innate good in people Anne Frank alluded to so eloquently.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
06/13/08
Sid Smith
Sid Smith
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Everyone in the movie...is fabulous, and Podeswa has an ability to distill history into a few powerful images.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
05/16/08
Stephen Hunter
Stephen Hunter
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The cast is uniformly attractive and earnest. But the romanticized image of the tortured artist is the stuff of stereotype unless it's leavened with humor, or limned in art. In Fugitive Pieces, neither element appears in sufficient quantity.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
05/15/08
Steven Rea
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Feels less like a redemptive survivor's story and more like a commercial for some terrific Mediterranean resort.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
05/09/08
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Bit by fragmented bit, it all adds up to a one-note portrait of its protagonist. Granted, that one note is a powerful one.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
05/08/08
Richard Nilsen
Richard Nilsen
Arizona Republic
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This lyrical drama about memory and survivor's guilt taps a deep reservoir of emotions.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
05/02/08
Kirk Honeycutt
Kirk Honeycutt
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A generally dull and unmemorable adaptation of Anne Michaels' extraordinary prose-poetry novel.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
05/02/08
Robert Koehler
Robert Koehler
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Well acted but dramatically unyielding.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
05/02/08
Peter Howell
Peter Howell
Toronto Star
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It’s a character study in which the lead participant is the least interesting person in the movie. There’s something inherently frustrating and unsatisfying about that.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
05/02/08
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Fugitive Pieces, however well-meaning, is still pretty much an emotionally distanced slog.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
05/02/08
Lou Lumenick
Lou Lumenick
New York Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Though much of the film's power is tamped down by the passive storytelling style, Dillane's performance as the adult Jakob is compelling, and Ayelet Zurer is beguiling as Jakob's late-in-life soul mate.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
05/02/08
Joe Neumaier
Joe Neumaier
New York Daily News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

[A] lovely, absorbing adaptation of Anne Michaels' lauded novel.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
05/02/08
Gary Goldstein
Gary Goldstein
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Once you adjust to the film's deliberate pace and literary rhythms, there are innumerable visual and emotional pleasures to be had.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
05/02/08
Newsday
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

For a tale spiked with so much torment, Fugitive Pieces feels remarkably soothing.

comment Comment
05/02/08
Jeannette Catsoulis
Jeannette Catsoulis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The strengths of Fugitive Pieces are its fluidity and subtlety. Emotional repression may be one of the most difficult conditions to portray honestly, and Dillane's performance of Jakob is a study in the art of creating sympathy by not asking for it.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
05/02/08
Liam Lacey
Liam Lacey
Globe and Mail
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The resonant film that results is not without its flaws, but it’s ultimately quite absorbing.

Full Review Source: New York Magazine | comment Comment
04/28/08
Sara Cardace
Sara Cardace
New York Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View
all

Latest News for Fugitive Pieces

April 22, 2008: Based on the acclaimed 1996 novel of the same title, Jeremy Podeswa's heartfelt drama is a personal work that also draws on his family's Holocaust experience. Opens in new window
More...

March 25, 2008: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
More...

See All

More DVDs

Close
Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
15% 15% The Ugly Truth
98% 98% Up
36% 36% G.I. Joe: The Rise of …
52% 52% The Taking of Pelham 1…
45% 45% Ice Age: Dawn of the D…

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
36% 36% Angels & Demons
68% 68% Funny People
25% 25% Four Christmases
45% 45% Shorts

More New Releases…

See All

RT On Current TV

The Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current TV

DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...

Learn how you can be part of the show

More...

What’s Hot On RT

Total Recall

Total Recall

John Travolta's best reviewed movies

RT on DVD

RT on DVD

Find the latest DVD and Blu-ray releases!

RT's Gift Guide

RT's Gift Guide

Give the best movies, gear, and more!

Ninja Assassin

Ninja Assassin

Learn to train like a ninja in this clip!

Other News

Close
  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Natalie Portman Says Kat Denning Is in Thor Source: MTV
16
  • Disney Restructuring Has Broad Implications Source: Los Angeles Times
10
  • Joel Silver Talks Ninja Assassin, Sgt. Rock, Lobo, and More Source: Collider.com
1
  • Weekly Ketchup: Idris Elba cast in Thor, more Spider-Man 4 rumors
108
  • Idris Elba Joins Thor Source: Hollywood Reporter
112
  • Jackass 3D Coming in 2010? Source: Collider.com
32
  • 6 Reasons 'Twilight' Is Doomed Source: The Wrap
64
  • Forbes Names Hollywood's Most Overpaid Actors Source: Forbes
20
  • Chris Weitz Says He's (Almost) Done with Directing Source: Film School Rejects
26
  • Spider-Man 4 Casting Rumors Multiply Like Rabbits Source: Deadline Hollywood Daily
51
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: New Moon Shatters Records
165
  • Critics Consensus: New Moon Wanes
129
  • Tomatometer Watch: Will Twilight's New Moon Dazzle?
97
  • Total Recall: Star-Crossed Lovers
75
  • Total Recall: John Travolta's Best Movies
56
  • Weekly Ketchup: Idris Elba cast in Thor, more Spider-Man 4 rumors
54
  • Five Favorite Films with Werner Herzog
50
  • Friday Harvest: New Moon, Avatar, and more!
32
  • RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: Angels & Demons, Funny People, and Superman
17
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
7
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
7
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
8
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
19
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
6
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
19
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
8
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
  • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel
28
  • Duncan Jones talks Moon, Sam Rockwell, and Mute
14
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Fugitive Pieces at Rotten Tomatoes
  • Fugitive Pieces at IGN
  • Fugitive Pieces at AskMen

Fresh Links

Featured
Wes Anderson on Fox
Wes Anderson on Fox External Link

The director talks about puppetry perfection and his film, Fantastic Mr. Fox

The New Cult Canon
The New Cult Canon External Link

AV Club looks at a beloved cult classic, Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness.

New Moon Portraits
New Moon Portraits External Link

TIME offers us a closer look at the characters from the latest Twilight film.

Unsexiest Men Alive
Unsexiest Men Alive External Link

Moviefone lists their choices for the least attractive men in Hollywood.

Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Follow RT on Twitter External Link

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.