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Movies / On DVD / Jakob the Liar
Jakob the Liar

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Jakob the Liar (1999)

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Reviews Counted:71

Fresh:21

Rotten:50

Average Rating:4.7/10

Consensus: Any real story is buried by awkward performances and contrived situations.

Runtime: 2 hrs

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: In Nazi-occupied Poland at the height of World War II, impoverished cafe owner Jakob (Williams) keeps hope and humor alive in the Jewish ghetto by reporting fictitious news bulletins about the... In Nazi-occupied Poland at the height of World War II, impoverished cafe owner Jakob (Williams) keeps hope and humor alive in the Jewish ghetto by reporting fictitious news bulletins about the Allied forces' advances against the Nazis to his fellow prisoners. Meanwhile, the Germans learn of the mythical radio and begin a search for the resistance hero who dares operate it. A remake of the 1974 German film, JAKOB, DER LUGNER. [More]

Starring: Robin Williams, Liev Schreiber, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Alan Arkin

Starring: Robin Williams, Liev Schreiber, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Alan Arkin, Hannah Gordon, Eva Igo, Bob Balaban

Director: Peter Kassovitz

Director: Peter Kassovitz
Screenwriter: Peter Kassovitz, Didier Decoin
Producer: Steven M. Haft

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Mar 21, 2000

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Jakob the Liar

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61 - 80 (sorted by date)
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Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinematter | comment Comment
01/01/00
Madeleine Williams
Madeleine Williams
Cinematter

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Marc Savlov
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle

I never lost awareness that I was watching actors speaking lines, not real people.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
01/01/00
Mark Caro
Mark Caro
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Collapses in a heavy-breathing marriage of irony and unearned sentiment.

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
01/01/00
Mark Halverson
Mark Halverson
Sacramento News & Review

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Matt's Movie Reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Matt Easterbrook
Matt Easterbrook
Matt's Movie Reviews

Jakob the Liar is a trial of cliche, strained optimism, and dire quasi-comedy.

Full Review Source: Mr. Showbiz | comment Comment
01/01/00
Michael Atkinson
Michael Atkinson
Mr. Showbiz
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

None of these reliable performers can put enough spin on their roles to conjure up more than the good will they've earned in previous and better movies.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Mike Clark
Mike Clark
USA Today
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Jakob the Liar is more pleasant than painful. And with Williams, that's really all we're asking for.

Full Review Source: San Diego Union-Tribune | comment Comment
01/01/00
Nina Garin
Nina Garin
San Diego Union-Tribune
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: New York Magazine | comment Comment
01/01/00
Peter Rainer
Peter Rainer
New York Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Even though director Peter Kassovitz tries hard to reproduce the soul-chilling despair of the ghetto, truth eludes Jakob The Liar.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
01/01/00
Randall King
Randall King
Jam! Movies

Even though director Peter Kassovitz tries hard to reproduce the soul-chilling despair of the ghetto, truth eludes Jakob The Liar.

Full Review Source: Winnipeg Sun | comment Comment
01/01/00
Randall King
Randall King
Winnipeg Sun

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: SPLICEDWire | comment Comment
01/01/00
Rob Blackwelder
Rob Blackwelder
SPLICEDWire

Sluggish!

comment Comment
01/01/00
Robert Horton
Robert Horton
Film.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Jakob the Liar wants the freedom of the Benigni film but doesn't want to pay the dues.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

I am of the depressing opinion that Williams is growing less assured as an actor in his 'serious' roles with every passing year.

Full Review Source: Scott Renshaw's Screening Room | comment Comment
01/01/00
Scott Renshaw
Scott Renshaw
Scott Renshaw's Screening Room

Jakob the Liar can't embrace the tragedy of the Holocaust.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Sean Means
Sean Means
Film.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: New Republic | comment Comment
01/01/00
Stanley Kauffmann
Stanley Kauffmann
New Republic
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A plodding, well-intended comedy-drama drowned in a muddy palette of grays and browns, thick with the odd sound of American actors using fake Polish accents.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
01/01/00
Steve Murray
Steve Murray
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The story is so underdeveloped that it's almost inert.

Full Review Source: Internet Reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Steve Rhodes
Steve Rhodes
Internet Reviews
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Susan Granger
Susan Granger
rec.arts.movies.reviews
 
 
61 - 80 (sorted by date)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
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