The Reader
Weinstein Company, The | Release Date: December 10, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 38 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
17
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
PremiereJenni Miller
Winslet deserves an Oscar for her amazing performance. Read full review
91
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
Kross and Winslet's intense performances and Daldry's deliberately placid control of tone make the material work as a love (and hate) story as well as a metaphor. Read full review
91
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
The Reader is significant because -- like another film opening today, "Valkyrie" -- it asks us to see not just the Jews but the whole German people as victims of the Holocaust, and to view Nazism as more a product of explicable ignorance than inexplicable evil. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The crucial decision in The Reader is made by a 24-year-old youth, who has information that might help a woman about to be sentenced to life in prison, but withholds it. He is ashamed to reveal his affair with this woman. By making this decision, he shifts the film's focus from the subject of German guilt about the Holocaust and turns it on the human race in general. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
There is a sense of ambiguity at the core of The Reader that makes it all the more brutal, all the more honest in its deflowering of love and what one imagines love ought to be instead of what it too often is. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The Reader is closer to a near miss than a rousing success but, on balance, this is still worth seeing for those who enjoy complexity and moral ambiguity within the context of a melodrama. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Winslet's fierce, unerring portrayal goes beyond acting, becoming a provocation that will keep you up nights. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Though the effort is uneven, it's a well-acted romance that becomes a less compelling courtroom drama. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Fiennes brings to the role a shimmering subtlety. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
With this film Daldry, previously the director of "Billy Elliot" and "The Hours," proves himself the screen's reigning master at showing passion thwarted or repressed. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
An immaculately crafted, splendidly acted drama with a message at its core of forgiveness and humanity. It's also blatantly manipulative, and, upon reflection, rather banal. In other words, it's the epitome of Oscar bait and almost serves as a step-by-step guide to creating such a beast. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
This coming-of-age portion is the less interesting half, though it has the more interesting Michael. We have seen Fiennes play an emotionally detached introvert so often that he brings nothing new to the role, apt though he is. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
An engaging period drama. But German postwar guilt is not the most winning subject matter for the holiday season. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
It is only, frankly, the strength of Winslet's performance that rises above conventional surroundings and makes The Reader the experience it should be. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
The revelation that Winslet’s character is a war criminal is the centerpiece of The Reader, but surrounding the Holocaust morality play is another story that’s more modestly scaled and, in this age of unashamed romance between older women and younger men, more contemporary. Read full review
70
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Bernhard Schlink's highly regarded novel "The Reader" receives a graceful, absorbing screen adaptation by director Stephen Daldry. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The film is notable for its nice performances, its handsome photography, and its very active music. If the preceding praise sounds generic, so is the movie. Read full review
63
New York PostKyle Smith
Although the script works in a couple of pages of collegiate-level ethical debate about "the question of German guilt," what the movie is really interested in is the question of German sex. So think of it as "Schindler's Lust." Read full review
63
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
The Reader doesn't do enough to explore the guilt and betrayal the adult Michael feels over the acts of his elders. Read full review
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