A young Jewish American man endeavors—with the help of eccentric, distant relatives—to find the woman who saved his grandfather during World War II—in a Ukrainian village which was ultimately razed by the Nazis.
Schreiber effectively incorporates some of the novel's humor, most of which revolves around Alex's amusingly improvisational English, but never comes close to mining the book's true substance or heartbreak.
– Connie Ogle,
Miami Herald,
30 Sep 2005
fresh:
[Schreiber] has managed something of a feat ... in spinning a single charming story out of Foer's yarn ball of a novel, which spanned 200 years, multiple stories and various protagonists.
– Peter Howell,
Toronto Star,
30 Sep 2005
rotten:
This isn't a frivolous film or a dumb one. Mostly, it feels like a mistake -- the wrong director matched with the wrong material.
– Eleanor Ringel Gillespie,
Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
2 Oct 2005
fresh:
It's profound in the way that life is profound in hindsight, its view of the past both fixed in history and mutable in the telling. And it's exquisitely tender.
– Amy Biancolli,
Houston Chronicle,
8 Oct 2005
fresh:
It's funny and warm, with the sting of the horrific event that triggered the trip giving it a melancholy feel.