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Movies / On DVD / The Grey Zone
The Grey Zone

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The Grey Zone (2002)

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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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Release:

Mar 18, 2003

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Reviews for The Grey Zone

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21 - 40 (sorted by date)
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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.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
11/18/02
Marjorie Baumgarten
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle

Even in its darkest moments, a heartening defiance underlies gut-wrenching calamity.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
11/15/02
Bruce Westbrook
Bruce Westbrook
Houston Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

As bold and unyielding as The Grey Zone stands with its historical subtext, there are a few factors detracting from the powerful message.

Full Review Source: Cinemaphile.org | comment Comment
11/15/02
David Keyes
David Keyes
Cinemaphile.org

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Movie Habit | comment Comment
11/13/02
Marty Mapes
Marty Mapes
Movie Habit

The Grey Zone is powerful, mesmerizing and disturbing.

Full Review Source: Sun Newspapers of Cleveland | comment Comment
11/09/02
Gerry Shamray
Gerry Shamray
Sun Newspapers of Cleveland

An uncomfortable movie, suffocating and sometimes almost senseless, The Grey Zone does have a center, though a morbid one.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
11/08/02
Kim Morgan
Kim Morgan
Oregonian

[Blake] creates moments ... that are impossible to forget.

Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
11/08/02
Joe Baltake
Joe Baltake
Sacramento Bee

The Grey Zone isn't for everyone, but its riveting power constitutes a stunning (as in it leaves you shattered and shaken) achievement.

Full Review Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News | comment Comment
11/08/02
Robert Denerstein
Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

[Nelson's] movie about morally compromised figures leaves viewers feeling compromised, unable to find their way out of the fog and the ashes.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
11/07/02
Carrie Rickey
Carrie Rickey
Philadelphia Inquirer
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
11/07/02
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

True tale of courage -- and complicity -- at Auschwitz is a harrowing drama that tries to tell of the unspeakable.

Full Review Source: Netflix | comment Comment
11/07/02
James Rocchi
James Rocchi
Netflix

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.

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
11/04/02
Jim Lane
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
11/02/02
Elbert Ventura
Elbert Ventura
PopMatters

An unflinching film, The Grey Zone takes us right into the gas chambers.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
11/01/02
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

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.

Full Review Source: ToxicUniverse.com | comment Comment
10/31/02
John A. Nesbit
John A. Nesbit
ToxicUniverse.com

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

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
10/31/02
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

Writer-director Tim Blake Nelson...makes the film compelling by designing it not to horrify, but to testify.

Full Review Source: SPLICEDWire | comment Comment
10/31/02
Rob Blackwelder
Rob Blackwelder
SPLICEDWire

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.

Full Review Source: Metro Times (Detroit, MI) | comment Comment
10/26/02
Anita Schmaltz
Anita Schmaltz
Metro Times (Detroit, MI)

Tim Blake Nelson takes a charged, unimaginable situation and stylistically flattens it

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
10/26/02
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
10/26/02
Arizona Republic
 
 
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