The Optimists
Castle Hill Productions | Release Date: October 21, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 6 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
This is the rare Holocaust documentary that ends on an optimistic note, and Comforty's film might even help reinforce one's faith in humankind. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
The Optimists is filled with first-person testimony from Jews who were saved and non-Jews who saved them, people like Rubin Dimitrov, a baker who hid Jews in his ovens and says simply, "a true human being is obliged to help." As a rescued Jew says with emotion at the film's conclusion, "to be a Bulgarian is to be a mensch." Read full review
70
The New York TimesLawrence Van Gelder
The director, who also served as producer along with Lisa Comforty, his wife, spent 12 years compiling the archival clips and photographs that make up this compact and elegant film. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
In the end, this admirably broadens our knowledge of the era but doesn't much deepen it. Read full review
60
VarietyEddie Cockrell
Explores another courageous, little-known chapter in the saga of resistance and heroics during World War II. Read full review
60
Village VoiceJames Crawford
Questionable as a theory of history, but as a human sentiment, it's touching to behold. Read full review
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