The Edukators
IFC Films | Release Date: July 22, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
22
Mixed:
5
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The Hollywood ReporterRay Bennett
That rare beast, a terrific movie that boasts intelligent wit, expert storytelling, delightful characters and grown-up dialogue plus suspense and a wicked surprise ending. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
For a film that points out so much wrong with German society and shows such dubious, dangerous behavior, it leaves the audience with high spirits and a sense of crazy exhilaration. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
A fluid and gripping drama from Germany (it has the design of a thriller and the mood of a spontaneous, whirling-camera character study). Read full review
80
The New York TimesDana Stevens
A slyly effective thriller and of a deft comedy of romantic confusion. Whatever its shortcomings as a consideration of globalization and its discontents, The Edukators succeeds brilliantly in telling the story of a man who falls in love with his best buddy's girlfriend and doesn't know what to do about it. Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Unpredictable and hugely entertaining. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
An engaging entertainment that packages its thought-provoking ideas in a combination of political thriller, comic adventure and romantic triangle. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
A sweet, funny and gripping romantic adventure, it's about the limitations of political activism in this day and age, and what happens when your girlfriend and your best friend fall in love. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Uncommonly smart and interesting.
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
A deft, entertaining story that mixes menace with charm and satire with seriousness. Read full review
80
Washington PostStephen Hunter
What makes the film so affecting, however, is its matter-of-fact evocation of character. Each person in the four-character cast is vivid and specific and believable. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Sticking it to the man, German-style. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
You can sympathize with both sides in their ideological battle, which ends in a most unexpected way. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
It's a rare film that gets smarter as it goes along, injecting a satisfying dash of pragmatism every time it seems ready to slip into either unearned idealism or cynical fatalism. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
There's an evenhanded humanism flowing through The Edukators that may strike doctrinaire viewers on either side of the divide as mushy, but it's tough enough for the rest of us to chew on for a long time. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
If you can look beyond the simple-minded Socratic political discourse, The Edukators reveals itself as warm, humane and sad, a movie that genuinely wants you to think about how idealism eventually collides with human frailty, and about what upstarts and sell-outs might teach one another. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
It's an action movie that's also an intellectual-action flick. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderHank Sartin
Though the story drags for the first hour, this becomes a solid character study once the principals arrive at their hiding place. Read full review
70
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
There is certainly a trill of suspense to be had from these ideological heists, but Weingartner’s movie is never quite as keen-edged as it hopes or needs to be. Read full review
70
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
Unlike in, say, "Fight Club," director Hans Weingartner does not hedge his bets on the notion of whether simple-minded anarchy is any better than societal conformity -- his heart is with the Edukators, period. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
The dialogue between the captive and the captors gets a little didactic, and the ending is as contrived as it is cynical. Weingartner obviously has more in common with the rich man than the kids. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Unless you're the sort who has a Che Guevara T-shirt tucked away somewhere in your closet, the needlessly long The Edukators wears out its welcome. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Perhaps the harshest criticism of the new German film The Edukators is that it doesn't make you feel any better edukated. Read full review
60
VarietyDavid Rooney
Ambling drama shows an exasperating lack of economy and a weakness for diatribe dialogue, but becomes progressively more involving after a laborious start. Read full review
50
Village VoiceJessica Winter
The Edukators smiles indulgently as the kids rage belatedly against the dying of the SDS light. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
The film's daring, honest ending helps redeem the uneven drama, but the road there may occasionally try the patience of even the most sympathetic armchair revolutionaries. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
Put simply, this second feature by the young Austrian director Hans Weingartner is a put-on -- a glib anti-capitalist rant in which the rhetoric rarely rises above the you-too-can-save-a-child-for-less-than-the-price-of-coffee level. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleWalter Addiego
It could have been something substantial. Read full review
20
Film ThreatHeidi Martinuzzi
The film begs for more action, thrills, and jokes, or more dramatic and painful revelations. What we get is an in-between mash of romantic ideals, a botched kidnapping, and some very good time wasted. Read full review
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