If stars could be awarded on the basis of good intentions, The Grey Zone should be king of the galaxy. Unfortunately, it lands on earth with something of a thud.
The Grey Zone (2002)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:80
Fresh:55
Rotten:25
Average Rating:7/10
Consensus: A grim and devastating tale of the Holocaust.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong holocaust violence, nudity and language
Runtime: 1 hr 48 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Oct 18, 2002 Limited
Box Office: $186,080
Synopsis: Writer-director-actor Tim Blake Nelson presents THE GREY ZONE, a relentlessly bleak drama that uses one of history's most incomprehensible calamities to address the ultimate question of human... Writer-director-actor Tim Blake Nelson presents THE GREY ZONE, a relentlessly bleak drama that uses one of history's most incomprehensible calamities to address the ultimate question of human survival. Based in large part on Miklos Nyiszli's book, AUSCHWITZ: A DOCTOR'S EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT, THE GREY ZONE is set in the nightmarish world of Auschwitz in the 1940s. The film tells the brutal tale of the twelfth Sonderkommando unit, Jewish prisoners who were granted a few extra months of life in return for their services in helping with the genocide of their people. While organizing a revolt against the Nazis, a group of Sonderkommandos (played with ferocious intensity by David Arquette, Daniel Benzali, David Chandler, and Steve Buscemi) discover a young girl who has somehow managed to survive the gas chamber. Risking their lives, they team up with a fellow Jew, Doctor Nyiszli (Allan Corduner), to revive the fragile youngster and redeem themselves in the process. Nelson's excruciating drama is all the more unsettling for its unflinching honesty. By placing his characters in a world suffused with death, he creates an unbearable scenario where every decision determines the fate of dozens, if not hundreds, of innocent lives. THE GREY ZONE also features deeply impassioned performances by Harvey Keitel, Mira Sorvino, and Natasha Lyonne. [More]
Starring: David Arquette, Daniel Benzali, Steve Buscemi, Allan Corduner
Starring: David Arquette, Daniel Benzali, Steve Buscemi, Allan Corduner, Harvey Keitel, Mira Sorvino, Natasha Lyonne, David Chandler
Director: Tim Blake Nelson
Director: Tim Blake Nelson
Screenwriter: Tim Blake Nelson
Producer: Christine Vachon, Pamela Koffler, Tim Blake Nelson
Composer: Jeff Danna
Studio: Lions Gate Films
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Reviews for The Grey Zone
Even in its darkest moments, a heartening defiance underlies gut-wrenching calamity.
As bold and unyielding as The Grey Zone stands with its historical subtext, there are a few factors detracting from the powerful message.
An uncomfortable movie, suffocating and sometimes almost senseless, The Grey Zone does have a center, though a morbid one.
The Grey Zone isn't for everyone, but its riveting power constitutes a stunning (as in it leaves you shattered and shaken) achievement.
[Nelson's] movie about morally compromised figures leaves viewers feeling compromised, unable to find their way out of the fog and the ashes.
Like the Ancient Mariner, Nelson grabs us by the collar and says, You must know about this. You must bear witness. And so you do.
True tale of courage -- and complicity -- at Auschwitz is a harrowing drama that tries to tell of the unspeakable.
Nelson's dialogue sounds colloquially American and betrays its stage origin ... which, added to the well-fed look of many of the inmates, works against the strong acting and the inherent power of the Holocaust theme.
An unflinching film, The Grey Zone takes us right into the gas chambers.
his [Nelson's] screenplay needs some serious re-working to show more of the dilemma, rather than have his characters stage shouting matches about it.
Tim Blake Nelson, credited as producer / screenwriter / play author / editor / director for “The Grey Zone” has taken a huge bite of a grim story of insurrection and destruction, leavened with spiritual salvation, and makes it, overall, boring and tedious
Writer-director Tim Blake Nelson...makes the film compelling by designing it not to horrify, but to testify.
The Grey Zone gives voice to a story that needs to be heard in the sea of Holocaust movies...but the film suffers from its own difficulties.
Tim Blake Nelson takes a charged, unimaginable situation and stylistically flattens it
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