First you're laughing, then you're crying, and you leave with a smile and a strong desire to do something nice for your mother.
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03/19/04
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Good Bye, Lenin! (2004)
89
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:102
Fresh:91
Rotten:11
Average Rating:7.4/10
Consensus: Funny and poignant social critique of German reunification.
Theatrical Release:Feb 27, 2004 Limited
Box Office: $3,921,721
Synopsis: October, 1989 was a bad time to fall into a coma if you lived in East Germany – and this is precisely what happens to Alex’s proudly socialist mother. Alex has a big problem on his hands when she... [More]
Starring: Katrin Sass, Daniel Bruhl, Chulpan Khamatova, Alexander Beyer
Director: Wolfgang Becker
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Reviews for Good Bye, Lenin!
It's mainly a hunt for ironies, usually playful but occasionally poignant, and the search is definitely successful enough to merit our attention -- although maybe not the two-hour running time.
03/19/04
Becker walks the tightrope between pathos and farce with a completely straight face, and he captures the 20th century's most climactic moment in such an offbeat but satisfying way that his little film could well become a classic.
03/18/04
The impulses to entertain and enlighten are at odds here, and the final result ends up landing somewhere in between: smart, funny, but rarely both at the same time.
03/18/04
Top CriticClick to read the article
03/18/04
Wolfgang Becker's dramatic comedy humorously dissects the social turmoil that followed the unification of Germany in 1989.
03/18/04
Good bye, Lenin! is a bit long to sustain its premise, but a solid cast makes it seem even better than it is.
03/16/04
A bold exercise in what-if?
03/16/04
A brilliantly constructed, touching but unsentimental look at the last days of East Germany.
03/14/04
Deliciously offbeat comedy, as wildly inventive as anything Billy Wilder ever conceived.
03/12/04
Top CriticWell-acted by Sass and the very likable Brühl.
03/12/04
Top CriticThe illusion of a perfect East German state exists solely for one woman's benefit, the deception a charming display of just how far a son will go out of love for his mother.
03/08/04
A precise, and utterly captivating, socio-political document that simultaneously plays small and big, personal and universal.
03/05/04
A funny and intermittently sharp German satire that musters gentle nostalgia for East German communism while mocking the not-so-distant past.
03/03/04
Top CriticThe overall tone of gentle satire is engaging and Becker's affection for the Kerners is contagious.
03/03/04
Click to read the article
03/01/04
There are many funny lines and situations, accompanied by strong performances all around.
02/27/04
Wisely understands that it's our delusions which often get us through this difficult, ridiculous life, and they therefore require something akin to the same nurturing as our deepest, most rewarding loves.
02/27/04
It never quite works as either farce or commentary, and -- like those shabby old socialist goods it salutes -- fills us up without leaving us satisfied.
02/26/04
Top CriticAn enjoyable time at the movies, and a film that deserves the support of astute film audiences who are not bothered by reading subtitles at the movies.
02/26/04
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July 18, 2005:
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