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Jakob the Liar |  | Director: Peter Kassovitz
Actors: Michael Jeter, Mathieu Kassovitz, Mark Margolis, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Nina Siemaszko
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.95
Buy Used: $1.47
as of 9/9/2010 10:04 MDT details
You Save: $8.48 (85%)
New (42) Used (43) from $1.47
Seller: river-city-books
Rating:  49 reviews
Sales Rank: 21611
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Running Time: 120 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: 043396028449
ISBN: 0767821475
UPC: 043396028449
EAN: 9780767821476
ASIN: B00003CWS3
Theatrical Release Date: 1999
Release Date: March 21, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
After being detained at Gestapo headquarters and overhearing a radio report of a Russian victory, Jacob passes along the good news but has to prove hi
Amazon.com
Roberto Benigni's Life Is Beautiful aside, milking the Holocaust for laughs is a dangerous game. Even the blackest, most therapeutic humor turns queasy in the shadow of such monstrous evil; it's like dancing on a mass grave. So Jakob the Liar's got a hard road to hoe--its eponymous schlemiel plays out his semi-farcical adventures in the mean streets of the Warsaw Ghetto circa 1944. The skies are always leaden over Jakob's hometown, reflecting the comic climate that pervades this mostly unfortunate adaptation of Jurek Becker's autobiographical book (first filmed in 1975). Jakob Heym (Robin Williams in overbearingly earnest mode) gets tangled in a string of self-perpetuating lies about a hidden radio, supposedly broadcasting news that the victorious Red Army is nearing. His desperate attempts to convince a clutch of insistently idiosyncratic friends (clichés to a man: Liev Schreiber, Bob Balaban, Michael Jeter, Alan Arkin) and obligatory Nazi bad guys that the radio doesn't exist are complicated by the fact that he's stashed a fugitive kid (a dead ringer--sorry!--for Anne Frank) in his attic--and by abundant evidence that lies are the best medicine for the ghetto's skyrocketing suicide rate. Copious unfunny misunderstandings and pratfalls eventuate in this Holocaust rendition of Fiddler on the Roof (you expect Williams to break into song: "If I were a funny man...."). Ultimately, Jakob the Liar loses its way for good in some very ugly violence and a rather nasty final twist: the film's ending might just be rubbing our noses in another feel-good lie. --Kathleen Murphy
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 49
 Great Movie! April 4, 2003
Linda Benske (Delafield, Wisconsin United States)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
This movie should be placed among the timeless World War Two classics such as Schindler's List and Life Is Beautiful. It is truly one of Williams best performances since Goodwill Hunting. It acurately portrays the life of people during the Jewish Holocaust. Iwas touched deeply by this movie and moved by the great performance of Williams and the rest of the cast. Peter Kassovitz establishes himself as a great director with this movie. The book was great and the movie was even better!
No real heroes, but real spirit April 5, 2001
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
If you want to see a holocaust movie, then I suspect there are better films to view. But this movie is real in its presentation of the human spirit: sometimes up, sometimes down, but real. There are no real heroes...just people doing the best they can under terrible conditions. It wasn't their belief in each other or their belief in some higher being that kept them going, but their very humaness that sustained them.
Amazing Movie March 19, 2009
David Loza (LA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This movie is amazing. I think that this is one of the best movies Robin Williams has done. A must have movie.
When mass hysteria counts for something September 14, 2001
John R. Bridell (Minneapolis, MN USA)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
JAKOB THE LIAR lets you know when mass hysteria counts for something. See this movie, but not for historical content. See it to feel the power of hope. As you watch, don't sob, don't wish that prayer had done a better job. Hang in there tight for the first fifteen minutes of the film while the director builds the character of Jakob Heym, menteur. Then, watch while Jakob ostensibly tunes into a radio full of ridiculous war news which he passes on mendaciously as the truth. I doubt that any actor except Robin Williams could have pulled this off. It has a remarkable scene with Williams telling the Ghetto denizens about the army tanks that have just came off the boat from Chicago. It has a more remarkable scene of Williams tuning in the radio for a orphan waif who actually believes that her remarks are heard by Churchill. The humor is on the cynical side. The comedy is on the hope side. Want to listen to honest dialogue? See this movie.
comedy in the face of despair May 2, 2006
Michael N. Ryan (Bel AIr, Maryland USA)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I saw this film on television some time ago.
Robin Williams superbly portrays a Jew existing in a Ghetto in occupied Poland surrounded by nazis. In this despairing situation he tries to keep his own spirits up while hiding a fugitive from the deportations to the Death Camps. One lie after another, he inadvertently tries to fib his way through his dayly existence until they finally catch up with him.
A heartful story. Excelletn performance by Robbin Williams. The supporting cast does their job well. The ending Hopeful.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 49
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